Every Word
by Lulai
Summary: Xavier has agreed to protect Juliette from the savages of the nobility. But when it is her turn to protect him, will she have the strength? Finished with a bimbamCHAPTER 15&16!
1. Blackmail

Welcome to Lulai's 'E' story. Not much to say here. Oh, I remember. I received an e-mail that I'm not actually allowed to respond to viewers at the beginning of chapters like I usually do. So, if you really want a review, just log in or leave your e-mail, and I will personally respond until this whole matter is cleared up. I don't really want to cause a huge ruckus.

Oh, and another thing. I have actually added a land across the sea. (Whoa!) You might guess that they are vaguely based off of a certain culture, just as Protantia is vaguely based off of England. _Vague_ is the key word here. Please don't write me telling me that I have their culture all wrong, I'm making half of it up as I go along.

_alba_ - love

_pyati_ - pirate

(In Jenn's magical made up language! Wee!)

-Lulai

Chapter One: Blackmail

Was it possible for one to be burning up and freezing at the exact same time?

Prince Xavier Fer Drewery lay in the filth and grime that used to be the beautiful Plains of Tarthan, and pondered the thought. His skin was hot, burning as if he had been dipped in oil and lit on fire, but his insides…

His insides were ice.

His head rolled to the side, and he looked around at the field, littered with the dead and the dying. Their blood had mixed with the churned up plains, turning the once deep brown soil a muddy pink. Perhaps in a few years, the blood would fertilize the soil and beautiful things would grow, but for now, all he could see were the eyes that would never blink, boys that would never grow up, men that would never see their children again.

A single tear leaked out his eye, tracing a path through the dirt and the dried blood from a gash in his forehead, falling into the hair at his temple.

They had won the war, kept Equilian back from their border, but at what price? His father was dead, clipped by a stray arrow. He would have laughed bitterly at the thought if he had the strength. There were no stray arrows in war. All were aimed to kill, no matter who the target was originally supposed to be.

His father hadn't even died instantly, but lay in the bed back at the castle, hanging on to life for five nerve-wracking days. He hadn't even had the strength to open his eyes, although his wife, children, and parents were with him night and day.

His father's death was the first piece of the war that actually hit home for the nobles. Even now, a year later, the lords and ladies liked to pretend that the war didn't pertain to them, that they were safe in their cities and townships. That there weren't people dying just a few days ride east of Barrish.

Xavier was tired of fighting. He was tired of wading through the ranks, knowing that the men he killed were only there on orders from their king, as were his own people. He was tired of holding men's hands as they died, telling them of the Faerie Court that awaited everyone who fought bravely for their country.

Faerie Court. That was a cruel irony now. Still, he repeated the speech almost daily, until it was ingrained in his head so deeply, it recited itself to him in his dreams.

He was burning. He was cold. He had no more feeling in his legs.

He could hear the distant sounds of men cheering, and he knew the rest of his regiment was chasing the last of the retreating Equilian army back into their lands.

It was pure fluke really that he wasn't there with them. His horse had been hit with a spear, falling and trapping his lower body underneath. He had lain in the dirt and the death for what felt like days, although it was probably mere hours.

He should have been happy, he knew. He should have been proud of the fact he had kept their land safe. He had fought for them, to keep the peace for his sisters, his mother, his grandparents, and everyone else.

But all he could think of was how much he just wanted to sleep. Close his eyes to the death and decay. Close out all the pain and fear. Just sleep…

…

"Oh my God, it's his Highness," a man exclaimed. Xavier vaguely felt his helm being pulled off, and the cool wind stirring the sweat soaked black locks. Cool fingers touched his forehead, touched his throat right above his breastplate.

"He's still alive! And burning up," the voice continued. "You there fellows. Help me here!"

There was a great deal of grunting and swearing, and somewhere in his fever-ridden mind, Xavier realised that they were moving his dead horse off of him. Blood rushed back into his lower limbs, and with it came pain. Excruciating pain that finally caused the prince to black out entirely.

"Look at his leg!" a soldier cried. The first man swallowed the bile that rose up in his throat. The prince's right leg was twisted at an unnatural angle, obviously broken through the thigh.

"Let's get him to the healers," the first man said, and motioned for the others to help him. He took a flag and the spear out of the horse's chest and fashioned a sort of makeshift stretcher.

"That's gonna hurt 'im like hell," the soldier said, motioning to the prince's leg.

"It's the best we can do until the healers straighten it. Now, ready? One, two, three, lift!" They lifted the prince's unconscious form onto the stretcher and began to take it back to where their tents were safely positioned, by the river, close to Barrish in case they needed to make a stand at the castle.

The leader sent messengers along ahead to make sure that there was room for the prince, and that they were going to be ready for him.

"Everyone out," the medic there said. The nurses were already gathering materials needed to try and straighten the bone in Xavier's thigh.

"Wait," Xavier said weakly. The man who had first seen him started. He hadn't realised that the prince had regained consciousness.

"You," the prince said, looking at him with muddled brown eyes. "Name?"

"Devon," the man said with a slight bow. "Devon of Delainë."

"Thank you, Devon of Delainë." The prince's eyes glazed over as the healer put a sort of potion under his nose.

…

_Two months later_

As Xavier limped down the long hallway of a house in the slightly seedier part of Drewery, he went over in his mind everything he knew about Duke Eric Fer Delainë. His cane thumped softly in the carpet, made all the more ominous by the fact there seemed to be no servants about. Surely, the self-reputed King of the Sea would have a least a couple servants. But other than the butler that met him at the front door, Xavier had not seen another soul.

It was enough to make him more than a little wary.

Little was really known about Delainë's past. He suddenly appeared when his father died twenty years prior to assume the title. He made periodic stops in his coastal town, in order to check up on his holdings, but it was more than obvious the man had seawater as opposed to blood in his veins.

Unfortunately, his dealings were usually less than savoury. It was even rumoured that the man was a pirate. He held sway over most of the black market in the land, and didn't mind flaunting his power if anyone started to get out of line.

The man did have some redeeming qualities, however. He fought bravely on the Protantian side of the war, mostly sacking Equilian ships up and down the coast, preventing supplies from reaching their destinations. Expectedly, this only added fuel to the fires of the rumours of past piracy.

_The Devil Duke_, Xavier thought wryly, remembering the nickname murmured behind Delainë's back throughout the court.

Of course, there were the occasional jibes that the Devil Duke actually was a demon escaped from hell on account of the man's mere size. And the harsh scars that graced his features were a testament to the brutal battle the man had fought to climb out of the fiery chasm.

Nevertheless, Xavier had never given credibility to the rumours- until now.

Having receiving a summons a mere two hours earlier (although summons was a broad way of putting it, it having been a _threat_ more than anything else), Xavier admitted to himself that his interest was piqued. So that's why, with only a muttered word about going out, he had left the castle and was limping down the long dark corridor towards the room at the end.

He reached the massive oak door, and without a proceeding word, turned the knob and entered.

Delainë was sitting at his desk, his boots propped up on the shiny surface, examining a small, shiny object that looked rather like a fork. He noticed Xavier's presence and took his feet down, rising to his full height out of the chair.

To his credit (or discredit as the case may be), Delainë did not look at all as though he was trying to dispel the constant gossip that surrounded him like a cloud. His dress was almost mockingly casual, leather boots that looked as though they had seen better days, brown pants, and a rough-spun shirt that wasn't quite white anymore. He was also a head taller than Xavier, which was not common at all, considering Xavier was a good inch over six feet when he wasn't leaning on his cane.

His black hair had not been combed, and he wore a goatee type moustache. Both were touched with grey, his hair at the temples, and his beard right below the corners of his mouth. But it was his eyes that made Xavier pause.

Looking out over a large hooked nose, his eyes were the lightest blue he had ever seen, and ringed around the outside with a darker shade. They looked as though they could flay a man to his soul, leaving him naked and bare.

All he needed was a couple horns and a ring of fire, and the picture would be complete.

"Drewery," he said, his voice as rough as his clothing. "I'm glad to see you've made it."

"As the note was so urgent, I couldn't help but hurry," Xavier commented dryly.

"Ah, yes, of course." He walked over to where there was a small mahogany bureau, and poured himself a glass of spirit.

"Port?" he offered, tilting the crystal towards him. Xavier declined with a wave of his hand.

Delainë took his drink back to his desk and sat back down in his chair. "Won't you sit?" he asked, motioning to a chair.

"I prefer to stand," Xavier replied, his voice cool.

Delainë shrugged and picked the fork-like object up in his hand, twirling it almost unconsciously. "Apparently, it's a hair piece," he murmured.

Xavier was starting to get annoyed. He had better things to do with his time than discuss abstract fashion paraphernalia with a man who's soul was rumoured to be sold to the devil in return for ridiculous long life. "Pardon?"

"My wife told me that it's a hair piece, not a fork," he said condescendingly, as if Xavier were a child.

"What does that have to do-" 

"I've called you here to discuss a matter of utmost importance to me," Delainë interrupted. "For you see, it has come to my attention that recently, you have helped a poor girl out of a desperate situation. _Financially_." His uncanny blue eyes flickered up to Xavier's face. "As you know, that could be called… a loan."

Xavier's temper flared. "Are you accusing me of _helping someone_?" he asked incredulously. His leg ached horribly from standing so long, but he wasn't about to show weakness in front of the Devil Duke.

"Perhaps I am." He gave the fork/hairpiece a spin around his first finger. "I will, however, be willing to hold my silence, and thus keep you out of jail, if you would do but one favour for me."

"And what if I don't? It will be your word pitted against mine?" Xavier asked belligerently.

"My word," Delainë responded calmly, "the word of the girl herself, and the five other men at the club where you offered to buy her off. I can assure you that I will present a very claimable case. And you will have no choice but to either flee the country, which will paint you in a very bad light, especially after everyone regales you as a hero after your return from the war, or be incarcerated in the jail of your choice. Or, you could simply do me this little thing and I will be willing to pay the right people to conveniently forget, and you can live on your life in peace."

"I can assure you that your attempts at blackmail will be taken quite seriously," Xavier warned.

Delainë leaned forward, his blue eyes glittering dangerously. "No, boy, I can assure _you_ that you have no idea who you are dealing with. I could kill you with no more effort than squashing an ant. It would never be traced, never be solved, and I would be able to do it without a moment's hesitation." He settled back into his chair, and looked quite tranquil again. "But, I like you, Drewery. And your family has actually been quite kind to mine. Besides, you don't even know what the payment is. You might like it."

A black eyebrow shot upward, indicating that Xavier was listening, although not out of any sort of responsibility to Delainë.

"It's fairly common knowledge that I left home at the tender age of thirteen," Delainë started, throwing his boots back up on the desk. "My father was a vile, stupid man, determined to turn me into a younger version of himself. I decided to forgo that route and took to the sea. I would have been quite content to stay far, far away if not for the unfortunate demise of my estranged father."

"You can spare me the life story," Xavier interjected sarcastically, "and just get to the main point."

Delainë looked more amused at Xavier's outburst than anything, and pointed the hairpiece at him accusingly. "I _was_ getting around to it, boy, so shut up and listen." Xavier scowled, not sure whether he was more insulted at being told to shut up or being called _boy_. But he let Delainë continue.

"As I was saying, even at the age of twenty, I would have been quite content to let the dukedom fall into crumbling ruin, but then I learned that my father had recently had a reactivation of his maternal drive." Delainë stroked his beard thoughtfully, a flash of white teeth in the black as he gave a rueful grin. "I imagine he had finally given up on me, and hearing Death knocking at the door, felt he might try to secure some sort of heir. My mother, a weak sort of woman, died giving birth to his hopeful protégé. Imagine his horror when his heir turned out to be of the wrong sex."

He leaned forward, dropping his feet, his intense eyes boring into Xavier's. "Juliette was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen, and has grown into an equally attractive woman. I tried to keep her out of harm's way, and now I believe I may have done her a disservice. At nineteen, she's bursting at my fences around her, wanting to see everything, and do everything, but is alarmingly, although refreshingly, naïve. I've agreed to let her and her guardians to come here and see the sights of the capital. That's where _you-_" he pointed the fork at him again- "come in. I want you to escort her."

"Me?" Xavier exclaimed. "But I can't suddenly start squiring around a girl I don't even know."

"You can, and you will," Delainë stated seriously. "Believe me when I tell you that I've loved very few things in my life. Juliette is one of my most precious treasures and I'm entrusting her to your care. Only for one month, then she will go home and you'll be free. As I already stated, Juliette is an innocent. I do not want her taken among the vultures of the nobility to be snubbed merely because of her relation to me." He raised a sardonic brow. "My reputation has served me quite well, but I'm afraid it might cause Juliette harm. I figure the support of a prince would be able to nullify any lingering effects."

His eyes narrowed and he clasped his hands together in front of him, the hairpiece lying on his desk. "She will be arriving in two days time. I seem to recall you are having a birthday celebration on that day for the princess Victoria. I will procure invitations for Juliette and her guardians. I fully expect you to introduce yourself and declare that you are at her disposal."

"And what am I exactly supposed to do with her?" Xavier asked dryly. "Dance?"

"Show her around," Delainë explained, throwing a hand in the air grandly. "Entertain her. Introduce her to some friends, if you so desire. I want my Julie to leave in a month with a smile on her face, and I charge you with that task."

"Anything else I can do for you?" Xavier asked, his voice edged with sarcasm.

"That will be all," Delainë said with a wave of his hand. "Go and do whatever it is that you royalty do in your time."

Xavier's jaw clenched and his hand tightened around his cane, but he managed to bite back the retort that sprang to his lips. He spun around on his good leg and exited the room without another word, an exit only marred by his pronounced limp.

As soon as the door latch clicked closed, a shadow detached itself from the rest of the darkness in the corner of the room and walked over to Delainë.

"You mock him, _alba_," the woman said simply in a heavily accented voice.

"Ah, my beloved Dhatri. You do me a great injustice." He motioned for his wife to come closer. Dhatri moved willingly, the gold embroidery on the black scarves around her twinkling in the sun.

"Is he the one then?" she asked, sitting in his lap. A circle of gold shimmered in her nose, and he traced her cheek with his finger, her skin the colour of coffee with cream. Her hair shone a shimmering blue black under the embroidered veil that she wore over it. But it was her hazel eyes, shining with intelligence that he loved most of all.

"Yes, I think he is."

"Then I will not be doubting you, _alba_," the woman said loyally. "Although I cannot say the same will be not doubting for Juliette. She has much of you, and will not be taking what is offered simply because it is offered."

"Unfortunately, I have to agree with you." He sighed and laid a hand on his wife's stomach. "If our little one has half your wisdom, we will be more than lucky."

She smiled, her teeth sparkling white and her gums a healthy pink against the deep tan of her skin. "And if he or she is having half the tenderness of your heart…" she teased.

"Tender? You know, I've run men through for less," he said, laughing.

"Ah, my ruthless _pyati_," she sighed, and giggled when his lips found hers.


	2. Unwelcome

First off, thank you all who reviewed! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside that I'm not just doing this for me. I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to responding to you all, but I've been busyand sick most of the weekend. But I am about to give a little history lesson.

**About 400 years ago:** (from Xavier's time) the king's son had a penchant for gambling with his buddies. Unfortunately, he lent out quite a bit of money to these guys, which they _said_ they were going to pay back, but because the son was a bit of a moron (yes, there are stupid people in the Drewery line, sad.) he didn't take any proof. His father was also raging a war against a small nation called Juntar. When he reached to his pocket, he found he had practically no money left. His son had 'loaned' it all to his friends. Luckily, the father was slightly more intelligent than the son, and managed to win against Juntar and amalgimate it into Protantia. Just before that, though, he then made a law stating that no member of the Royal family could loan out money of anything more than four gold coins (about $30) on pain of imprisonment. He died before he could rescind the order. Unfortunately, due to some formality in Protantia,it's much easier to make a law than to break one when you are not the initial lawmaker.

That's why Xavier could be blackmailed.

So, we are introduced to Julie's character in this chapter. I love Julie, and I hope that you all pick up on her nuances. She's a blast to write.

Sadly, this will be my last update for a while, as I am heading off into the distant interior of Canada (Manitoba) for a cousin's wedding. I doubt I will have any internet time at all and I will not be back until about the 6th of September.

I hope you all have a great rest of the summer, and those who have already started school, I hope it's going well!

-Lulai

Chapter Two: Unwelcome

"And you're well enough to do this?" Wynne asked him for the fourth or fifth time.

"No, I'm about to collapse at any minute now," Xavier responded sarcastically, "just like I was the last two times you asked me."

Wynne planted her hands on her hips and had the nerve to look down her nose on her older (not to mention taller) brother. "I am just trying to look out for you. Court knows that you don't look after yourself."

"Go look after Zander if you need a charge," Xavier said, waving his hand in a shooing motion. "He needs more help than me, and he has both legs."

Wynne shook her head, making her black curls shake. "_He_ doesn't disappear for afternoons on end."

"No, just evenings," Xavier muttered, but Wynne was on a roll and didn't hear him.

"_He_ didn't just have a fever that nearly killed him. _He_ doesn't insist on walking when the doctor told him that he should be waiting another two weeks. _He_-"

"I get it, Wynne," Xavier snarled. "God. I broke my leg. I'm not an invalid."

He immediately regretted his outburst because Wynne's eyes filled with tears, and she started sucking on her lower lip, a habit she only did when she was trying not to cry.

"I'm sorry Wynne," he apologised, laying a hand on his sister's shoulder, feeling like the worst sort of brute. "I do appreciate your concern, but I don't need you to hover over me."

"I'm sorry too," she said, blinking back tears from her brown-black eyes and giving him a shaky smile. "I know you're able to take care of yourself. I'm just used to worrying about you from when you were away."

"Don't think about it," he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Shouldn't we be getting out there? Vicky will be wondering what happened to us."

"Ha," his sister snorted, all trace of her tears gone. "Vicky will be having too much fun to even notice we haven't arrived yet."

Luckily, thanks to mostly to Xavier's insistence, their mother, Queen Selena, had made the decision not to have the Royal Family announced. He had said it was because the party was a slightly more private event, and thus everyone there should know them already, but it was more to the fact that Xavier was still having trouble getting up and down the stairs with any sense of decorum.

It also let him get into the party quite a bit later than everyone else. Not because he didn't enjoy other people's company, but because he knew as soon as he stepped, or rather _limped_ out onto the floor, he would have to find _her_. Delainë's sister. And he would be shackled to the chit for the next month.

He was enjoying his last moments of freedom.

Xavier blew a lock of hair off his forehead, and twisted his hand on his cane absentmindedly. He was being foolish. After all, it was only one month. It wasn't like it was forever. Might as well go and get it over with.

"Lead on, my lady," he motioned to Wynne. She grinned at him and grabbed onto his free arm, unconsciously matching his slower gait. At least until she saw her sister.

"Oh, Vicky," she exclaimed, racing to embrace her. "Happy eighteenth!"

Victoria, the only Drewery child to have escaped their mother's black hair, cast a reproachful glance at her sister.

"Excuse me, Wynne," she said, her brown eyes twinkling despite her harsh words, "but I was having a rather delightful conversation with Captain Brimfield here."

"Captain Brimfield?" Wynne cast a critical eye over the man's uniform. Xavier almost pitied the man. Although the sisters looked almost nothing alike, Wynne being an almost exact replica of their mother, small with dark hair and eyes, and Vicky built slightly taller with golden blonde hair, the two were almost exactly alike in temperament.

Xavier chuckled and looked around the room. No doubt by now Zander had made his way onto the veranda and perhaps even into the gardens. With some female companionship, of course. He continued his perusal of the guests, ignoring Wynne's practical interrogation of the poor Captain.

There. That was her, he was sure of it. The woman stood, flocked by at least five men, telling some sort of expressive tale that required a great deal of hand gesturing. She obviously made a punch line, as the men laughed appreciatively. She was rather short, and sort of rounded about the hips, not to mention had quite a generous bosom, but her hair was a charming chestnut brown, and all in all, really wasn't a bad looking sort.

He steeled himself for the introduction, then laughed ironically to himself. He wasn't being led to the executioner, for goodness' sake. Although, if he failed to make this Juliette's stay a happy one, he might very well be.

"Your Highness?" a woman asked him as he approached. He nodded and gave a dip of his head instead of a bow. She smiled. "I am Lady Grey, and this is my daughter, Lauren Fer Grey. We are delighted to meet you."

The woman in question walked over, much to his surprise. "It's an honour to finally meet you," Lauren said, her voice as charming as the rest of her.

"The pleasure is all mine, my ladies," he said. If she wasn't Juliette…

"And let me introduce my charge, Lady Juliette Fer Delainë," Lady Grey said, sweeping her hand back towards the chairs. A young woman slowly stood up from beside a rather large fern that she had hidden behind, and slowly walked towards them.

Xavier's breath caught in his throat. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that this was Delainë's sister. Her hair was a honey blonde, done back in an intricate style of loops and curls that covered the back of her head. She was very tall, as tall as he was, he would wager, and as slender as a willow. Her nose was a little large, like a triangle on her face, but it suited her wide lips and her large eyes. And those eyes. They were exactly like her brother's. Almost lighter than sky blue, with a dark ring of sapphire around the edge.

A man could drown in those eyes.

Juliette Fer Delainë had come to the party with high expectations. Walking into the ballroom had been like walking into the Faerie Court. Gauzy material covered the walls, and strings of spring lilies were wound about the staircase. A table covered with food was laid along the entire left side of the hall, and the three sets of glass doors were open on the right, allowing the still cool spring night air in, and the more arduous couples out into the gardens.

Unfortunately, things deteriorated rapidly from there. She quickly realised two things: that she was probably the tallest one there, male company included, and her ice blue dress was at least three years out of style. _She_ had though it quite fashionable, even though having the waistline around her hips made her look even taller, but every woman there had their waistline about five inches higher. After trailing behind Lauren as she talked to several ladies (most who had mouthed 'country girl' to each other while staring at Julie's out of style dress), she had decided to forgo the torturous experience and went to sit in one of the chairs along the wall.

She had struck up an acquaintance with a large fern, while Lauren flitted about, having the time of her life. The fern had no problems telling her what her faults were, although they only spoke in her head.

_You're jealous_, it said.

To which she replied, _Of course. Who wouldn't be?_ In her head, her voice was pure and musical, and actually sounded a lot like Lauren's.

_You're only doing this to yourself,_ the plant chided. _If you went out there and put yourself forward like Lauren…_

_The men would just flee faster,_ Julie thought with a sigh.

Every single one had so far. It was quite common knowledge that men did not like to dance with women who stood a head above them. It wasn't as though she could provide them with anything else. She couldn't tell stories like Lauren, or even have a scintillating conversation.

_Not to mention that you're not exactly voluptuous,_ the fern said, sounding amused.

Julie sighed again. The fern spoke the truth. She was like a tree, tall and straight. She did have _some_ curves, but definitely not as many as Lauren. Julie couldn't make a cleavage line if her life depended on it.

She had not had a single man ask her to dance. Of course, it could be because they were all bewitched by Lauren's magical voice. But she rather thought that it was because of her disability. There were a couple men who had approached her Aunt Elaine, and talked quietly. A couple had even motioned to her, sitting idly by her fern friend.

But every single man had had the same reaction. First surprise, then slight disgust, then polite withdrawal.

Oh, how foolish she had been! To imagine that she would be welcomed by society when she was so marred. She wished she hadn't even come to Drewery. She should have stayed in Delainë where she was handicapped, yes, but accepted. But she had followed her silly daydreams, of being courted by handsome men, dancing the night away, seeing the sights of the greatest city in Protantia. Eric _had_ warned her, but she was too swept up in her imaginings to listen. And now she was paying the price.

Julie thought the night could not be salvageable, but then she saw him. She didn't know who he was, merely that he was possibly the most handsome man there that night. He was walking slowly, a dark cane in one hand, the other arm being pulled by a shorter dark haired woman, perhaps his sister. They had the same eyes, the same line in the jaw.

_You're staring_, the fern warned her.

_It's not like he'll see me_, she retorted, not taking her eyes off the darkly dressed man. _Besides, he's worth staring at._ His black hair was cut slightly longer, ruffled in the front, sweeping back from a left sided part to fall back into a cut off curl near to his collar. It seemed to be naturally springy, and she was heartened for some reason to see that he didn't use pomade or wax to achieve the look.

Not for the first time, Julie wished she had brought her sketchbook, only this time instead of wanting to alleviate her boredom, she wanted to capture the lines of the man's physic. He looked very slightly gaunt, as if he had recently recovered from an illness or long bed rest. Other than that, he looked strong.

She mused over that word, nibbling on the gloved tip of her forefinger. Yes, strong. Not burly, but lean. Sleek. The man was built like a whip, long lines and power.

A smile surprised itself onto her lips when she saw him chuckle. She managed to tear her eyes off him for a second to see that the woman he was with had joined another blonde haired woman, who by the looks of her, was related to them as well.

She made a small moue. Whoever had told the dark haired woman that olive was a good choice for a dress was completely colour blind. With her dark colouring, she wasn't one for pastels. A rich sapphire or a bright ruby would serve her better.

The blonde woman had better taste. She was dressed in a charming peach dress, with ivory and cream trimmings. It brought out her blonde hair and her tan skin to perfection, although fuller sleeves would have made her shoulders look a little less wide.

Her eyes narrowed with recognition, then widened when she realised whose dress she had been criticizing. The blonde woman was the princess! Vivian? No, Victoria. That was right. It was her eighteenth birthday today, that's why they were here.

Wait, if that woman was the princess, then that meant that Sir Handsome was…

_The prince_, the fern said, sounding very much like it wanted to laugh at her.

She had been ogling the prince! Her cheeks burned, although there wasn't really anyone looking at her. Her eyes slid guiltily to her elegant satin blue slippers, but she couldn't help but look back up to him. Prince or no, he was definitely more interesting (and possibly better looking) than her toes.

He began to walk over to where she was, and Julie's embarrassment quickly turned to horror.

_Oh, not him, Aunt Elaine_, she thought, trying to broadcast her message, although Lady Grey wasn't looking at her at all. She couldn't even give her a hand signal.

She wouldn't be able to stand it if he snubbed her. All the others she could let roll off her back, and keep a brave face, but as soon as the prince cut her out, she wouldn't be able to keep the pain inside.

She watched in trepidation, chewing so hard on the tip of her glove that she wore a hole in the silk, as her guardian introduced the prince to her daughter Lauren.

"The pleasure is all mine, my ladies," he replied and Juliette nearly groaned. The man's voice was as magnificent as the rest of him, smooth and deep, sliding up her spine like warm fingers.

"And let me introduce my charge, Lady Juliette Fer Delainë," Aunt Elaine was saying, motioning for Julie to leave the comforting sanctuary of her potted plant and meet this paragon of male beauty.

Never, in all her childhood years that she spent, weeping and praying to speak as others did, did she want her voice so badly. She realised that she was still chewing on her glove and whipped it out of her mouth, curling her damp finger into the palm of her hand behind her back.

She stepped forward.

He looked equally dumbstruck, although it was probably due to her height. She was as tall as he was, for Court's sake!

"My Lady," he said, holding out his hand, and Julie remembered at the last minute to give him the non-bitten one. He gave her a smile, and it shot through right to her toes, which curled in her slippers. "If you do not already know, I am Xavier Fer Drewery. I am very pleased to meet you."

She smiled tentatively at him, her gaze flickering from Aunt Elaine, to her fern, and back to Aunt Elaine, wondering when she was going to tell him like she told all the others.

"I would ask you to dance, my lady," Xavier said, drawing her attention back to him, "but I'm afraid my leg is newly healed, and not quite up for the strain. Perhaps I could interest you in a walk about the gardens, as you've found such an affinity with my fern."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. Was he teasing her? She couldn't tell; his face was as innocent as a newborn's. She was just about to shake her head no and pull her hand from his warm grasp, when Aunt Elaine caught her eye.

_Go_, she signed.

Xavier, obviously taking her lack of refusal as encouragement, tucked her arm firmly in his, and escorted her out the door, leaning on his cane.

"Ah," he said as soon as they reached the terrace, "I have been needing this fresh air all evening. Did you not find it a trifle stuffy in there?"

Julie nodded. A confused look flashed in his dark eyes before he continued on.

They strolled down the pathways, Xavier asking questions to which Julie only responded with a shake or nod of her head, or the occasional shrug of her shoulders.

Slowly, as her nonverbal answers became even more apparent, understanding dawned in Xavier's mind. As her eyes blurred with tears, his face became hard, the corners of his strong mouth drawn downward, and fury raging in his eyes.

This was the moment Julie had been dreading. He would come to realise that Lady Grey, Lauren, maybe even Julie herself had deceived him. They had passed several couples about their walk, all who would have known that Xavier was trying to have a conversation with a mute. He would think that they had tried to make him look a grand fool.

"Don't," she heard him command tersely. "Don't cry. For Court's sake, don't let anyone see you in pain. Then they win, don't you see?"

A scream split the night air.

Xavier jerked upright, swearing lowly. "That was Vicky." He hobbled Julie over to a stone bench in the middle of some rose bushes, right by a large fountain.

"Now, you stay here," he commanded, giving her a fierce glare. "We are going to finish this walk around the garden if it kills me." He muttered something else under his breath, but Julie didn't hear it.

Julie nodded and watched Xavier limp away. He could move fairly fast, even with his bad leg. Sniffing, she hoped the darkness hid her bright red nose and cheeks. That was yet another problem with being so fair. A hint of tears and her face turned the colour of a raspberry. She wished she had inherited her brother's darker colouring, although for all she knew, his tan could have come from working on the ships so long. But she never even got the merest hint of a tan. She just turned the colour of a boiled lobster then flaked for days after. The injustice of it all.

Feeling a little better (or at least not so close to tears), she sat, looking around her at the various flowers, all shadowed in dark blue by the almost full moon. The gurgling of the fountain was a nice, calming touch.

Consoling herself that she wasn't really disobeying the prince's direct order as she was only going a few feet, Julie made her way over to the fountain. She sat, trailing her fingers in the cool water, startling a few of the large orange fish at the bottom, staring up into the sky. The cool crisp night provided the perfect backdrop for the stars. They twinkled merrily, and she could almost imagine little creatures between them.

"There you are," Xavier crooned as he sat down next to her, startling her into jumping up. "Now, now, my pretty, don't be hasty." He pulled her back down, onto his lap. She stared at him, wide eyed. This wasn't what he meant when he said that they were going to finish their walk, was it? They obviously weren't walking.

"Decided to move on me, didn't you?" he scolded with mock consternation. Julie didn't know quite what to do. She didn't really want to admit that she _had _moved, but it really was quite true.

"No matter," he whispered in her ear, his breath tickling the hairs on the nape of her neck. It felt… eerie. Not nice at all. "We can finish our talk here. Have I told you how much I love blondes?" he said, before giving her ear a lick.

That was the last straw. Julie bolted out of his arms, ignoring his exclamation of protest, and strode rapidly down the path towards the castle. She was seething, and back to the brink of tears. Did he think that because she couldn't talk, that she wouldn't refuse? To think she had trusted him. To think she had thought him attractive! He was dirt. No, he was lower than dirt. He was sub-dirt.

An arm grabbed her forearm from out of the darkness. It was Xavier. How did he move so darn fast with a bad leg?

"I thought I told you to wait by the bench," he said.

Julie didn't even think; her hand flew of its own violation. Then she turned and hiked up her skirts, not caring if someone saw her ankles as she streaked past, leaving Xavier clutching his cheek, with an utterly bewildered look on his face. The man probably had never had his advances spurned before.

There was only so much humiliation a girl could take. She slowed her run down as soon as she got within seeing distance of the people inside. She stalked to Lauren's side, as hard as it was, as men surrounded her.

_Home, now_, she signed, not caring if Lauren saw the tears in her eyes, or the angry set to her lips.

Lauren, like the dear friend she was, nodded, saying, "I must be going now, gentlemen. It has been a great honour to have met you all." She was rewarded with a chorus of groans, but merely shook her head, and gathered her mother and their coats.

Julie sat in the coach, glaring at the stars, ignoring her aunt and cousin the entire way back to the hotel. She had really wanted to go _home_ home, but the hotel was close enough. As she was afraid that she was far too angry to be pleasant company, she entertained herself by coming up with as many different variations that included the words 'Xavier,' 'worms,' 'forks,' and 'painful, painful torture,' she could think of. What a lovely way to start her month's stay.


	3. Conversations

Heyo. I'm back! I had great fun on my vacation, and now school has started (gulp!), and stuff is peachy. I wrote two chapters on the road, on a pad of paper, no less! I never really realized how much editing I do on the fly until I was scribbling out entire paragraphs and drawing arrows every which way. Wow.It's all good though. I'll post this one today, and the next chapter on Saturday.

On another note, I bought, like, fifty new textbooks for college. I spent $882.64 Cdn. Yeah. That's my bank account crying.

-Lulai

Chapter Three: Conversations

Juliette rolled out of bed, feeling quite put out. She was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a morning person. She let Hillary, the maid she had brought dress her, as she yawned, wishing she could go back to bed. Unfortunately, Aunt Elaine had already called her about three times. She probably wanted to start the sight seeing.

Dressed in a simple light pink gown and matching slippers, Julie made her way out into the conjoining common room. Lauren sat there, buttering a croissant.

"Mama, do you know how many men I had to correct my name too?" she was complaining. Her voice dropped an octave. "'Miss Lauren, would you like to dance?' To which I would reply, 'I'd love to, but my name is Miss Lau_ren_.'" She rolled her marvellous dark blue eyes. "Probably every man there."

Julie sat down and took her own plate and croissant. She bit into the pastry and was assaulted with the sweetness of its flaky almond texture. Her morning started to perk up.

"I hope you weren't encouraging all those men," Aunt Elaine was saying while putting another line in her cross-stitching. Her Aunt had quite the collection, almost thirty, all of different flowers, not to mention the ones she gave away as gifts. Julie herself had nineteen, one for every birthday. They were all in a trunk at the foot of her bed at home, except for the current one, which hung on her door.

Lauren cast her gaze up to the ceiling as if in a prayer for patience. "Of course not, Mama."

"At least you didn't dance with the twins."

Julie looked up. She hadn't seen any twins there. _Twins?_ she signed.

"Yes," Lauren replied after popping the last corner of her croissant into her mouth. "The two eldest Drewery's are twins. We were introduced to one of them last night."

_Xavier?_ A sneaky suspicion was dawning on Julie, and horror was creeping up on its heels.

"That's the one. I didn't see the other one, Zander, anywhere." She took a bunch of grapes and began popping them one by one into her mouth.

Oh, but Julie did. She was sure of it. Her hands lifted again. _Are they identical twins?_ she asked, fearing the worst.

Lauren nodded. "Mirror twins actually, although I don't know which is which."

She felt absolutely terrible. No wonder Xavier had looked so confused. She had slapped the wrong twin!

"What's wrong, Jules?" Lauren asked, leaning forward. "You're as white as a sheet. Are you feeling okay?"

Julie nodded her head. She was going to have to apologise. Maybe if she wrote him a letter…

"Jules, you can always talk to me," Lauren said seriously. "Although it may not seem like it sometimes, I do love you. You're like a sister to me."

Julie leaned forward and squeezed her hands. _Thank you_, she signed. _But it's nothing. Really._

Lauren smiled. _As long as you're certain,_ she signed back.

_Could you get your mother's attention for me?_ Julie made a face. As much as she loved her Aunt, she was a bit of an airhead and Julie often had to physically pull at her clothing like a child of four to get her attention. As she was sitting across the table, that wasn't really an option that morning.

"Mama?" Lauren asked, repeating it louder until she was almost shouting before Elaine looked up.

"I'm right here, Lauren. There's no need to yell."

The two girls exchanged looks.

_Can I be excused?_ Julie asked.

Aunt Elaine smiled at her. "Of course, my dear."

"Me too, Mama? I want to brush Julie's hair," Lauren said. Julie smiled. She loved it when people brushed her hair. The slide of the prongs through her locks always felt so… intimate. Always felt very loving, especially when Lauren did it. And it always soothed her, even when she was a child.

"Of course."

Julie and Lauren hurried to Julie's chambers, where Julie held out the comb and shook out her matted golden locks.

"Courts, Julie," Lauren said, starting the brush at the very bottom edge of her hair. "What did you do? Tie it in knots before bed last night?"

_I had a restless night,_ she replied.

"Jules, just between you and me, what happened?" Lauren asked softly.

Julie sighed and lifted her hands. _When Prince Xavier took me out on the walk, he quickly figured out that I couldn't talk… like others could,_ she quickly tacked on, seeing the familiar argument appearing in Lauren's eye. _He became… angry, I guess. Then Princess Victoria screamed._

Julie would have cocked her head, but was afraid that it would pull her hair. _What was Victoria screaming about?_

"Oh, that," Lauren said with a laugh. "Actually, that was Princess Wynne, and she saw a mouse in the corner. Silly, really. But apparently, she absolutely hates mice."

_I don't blame her,_ Julie agreed with a small shudder. _But, really, I thought there might have been a rampaging griffon or something in the castle by the length and ferocity of her scream._

"So, Xavier left you," Lauren prompted, noting Julie's change in the subject, and wanting to get back to the original topic.

_Yes, Prince Xavier left to go see what his sister was screaming about. _Julie paused, wincing as Lauren sorted through a particularly nasty tangle. _I went and sat by the fountain, and after a little while, he came and sat next to me. He pulled me into his lap, and licked my ear!_

"The fiend!" Lauren, her eternal loyalist, agreed.

_Quite. So I left._

"Good for you," Lauren said, finally managing to get the brush through the entire length of Julie's hair. She began brushing it back from her face in soothing strokes, followed by a stroke of her hand.

_As I was reaching the castle, Prince Xavier grabbed my arm._

"No!"

Julie had to smile. As a storyteller herself, Lauren knew just how to implement the mood. How she loved her cousin by blood, sister by heart.

"What did you do?" she asked.

_You've stopped brushing,_ Julie noted. Lauren immediately started up again, looking at her expectantly in the mirror. _I slapped him._

"Ho-ho!" Lauren crowed. "I knew it was in you. No wonder you were so upset last night. But why were you still upset this morning?"

_I think I slapped the wrong twin_, Julie admitted guiltily. _There was no way Prince Xavier could have moved that fast with such a bad leg. I believe it was Prince Zander who had accosted me by the fountain._

"Oh, how horrible!" Lauren said, braiding the bottom of Julie's hair. "So, what are you going to do?"

_Probably write a letter. And apologise._

"That's a good idea," Lauren agreed. "Here, let me help you. I have a way with words."

…

Xavier stamped his way into Delainë's house, pushing quite rudely past the butler. He knocked on the large oaken door that he knew was Delainë's private study and not waiting for an answer, barged in.

"Ah, Drewery. I was wondering when you were going to arrive," Delainë said, looking damnably amused, which only added fuel to the fire of Xavier's anger. "Please, won't you have a seat?"

"You can take your seat and go back to Hell," Xavier said with false cheer. His hand was gripping his cane so hard his knuckles were white. "I've just come to ask you a simple question. Do you really hate your sister so much?"

Delainë's hands hit his desk with a thump as he half-rose out of his chair, his blue eyes glittering like ice with rage. The maps that lay over his desk scattered slightly, a couple sliding the floor with a dry rasp.

"Are you challenging me, boy?" he asked, his voice deadly calm, like the sea before a storm.

Xavier's rage went so white-hot, for a second he was afraid that he was about to say something truly unwise. But then he remembered that Delainë was a man that one didn't take lightly, or foolishly, and calmed himself.

"No," he said, and sat himself in the chair, a deliberate peace offering. "I am merely wondering why you didn't tell me that your sister is mute."

Delainë also sat back down, straightening the maps that had scattered on the desk. "I didn't think it pertinent."

"Not pertinent?" Xavier asked in disbelief. "If you had told me of her disability earlier, I could have prepared the grounds, or at least bribed enough people to dance with her that she didn't have to sit behind a damnable fern all evening."

"I had the utmost confidence in you," Delainë stated. "I did tell you to introduce her to some friends, did I not?"

Xavier rubbed his bad thigh wearily. "I would have, after trying to learn more about her myself. If I had known she doesn't speak, I could have tried different means of communication. But, do to your negligence, I nearly trampled the girl's feelings. I didn't have a chance to do anything before she slapped me and ran off."

Delainë looked like he was torn between wanting to smile and being angry. "She slapped you? What did you do to her?"

"I have no idea," Xavier lied. He did have some idea why he was slapped, mostly because he found Zander sitting by the fountain, looking almost as confused as he was.

"If you've hurt her…" Delainë threatened.

Xavier had to refrain mightily from rolling his eyes. "I'm growing quite weary of your threats, Delainë," he said. "It's hard to imagine you having a sister at all."

At this, Delainë sat back and grinned. "I know. I used to like to think that Julie wasn't a product of my father's, but a gift left by the Faeries. Unfortunately, she looks too much like me to give that theory any credit. But still, she's an absolute delight."

"Which I would have found out, had I not been trying to get her to answer my questions with more than a shrug," Xavier said, raising an eyebrow.

"Julie actually can speak," Delainë said, steepling his fingers and leaning back in his chair, throwing his boots on the desk, "however, she finds it exhausting, and doesn't much like the sound of her own voice. I, for one, find her speech enchanting, but I do have to admit her voice isn't very feminine."

"Was she born with this disability?" Xavier asked curiously.

"No," Delainë shook her head. "Her birth was complicated, but she was a completely normal child. She rarely cried, but liked to laugh, and make normal baby speech to whoever would listen to her." His eyes went slightly dreamy with nostalgia. "I remember, when I first came back after hearing my father had passed on, I entered the house." He gave a small smile. "I was an impressive figure, even then, but little one-year-old Julie toddled up to me, grabbed onto my leg and began to blather on in some baby nonsense that I couldn't understand.

"A couple years later, right after her third birthday, she had escaped out of a door that a maid had carelessly left open. She was an explorer, even at that age. It would probably have been all right, except that later that day, there was a huge sea storm. It took me four hours to find her, and by that time, she was soaked and burning up with fever."

He shook his head. "She nearly died. It took a week for the fever to break, and by that time, it had taken its toll on her young body. Her vocal chords were swollen and she couldn't speak. She also lost most of her hearing. It was four years before I heard her talk again."

"She lost her hearing?" Xavier commented. "She seemed to hear well enough last night."

Delainë nodded. "She healed, as young bodies usually do. She only has half-hearing in her right ear, but her left one is fine."

"So why didn't her vocal chords heal as well?"

"They did heal," Delainë explained, "although they were scarred. Thus, she can talk, but she hates to. She refused to talk, and was becoming quite sullen, until I found a man who knew a type of hand speech. I learnt it, adapted it to our language and taught it to Julie and all the servants of my household. After that, she flourished."

Xavier cast an assessing look at Delainë. This was a side of the man that no one talked about, probably due a lot to Delainë himself. He obviously loved his sister dearly, to teach his household a language that they probably would never use except with Julie.

"Ah," Xavier murmured. He stood up slowly, leaning hard on his cane. "I had better go around and try to assess the damage and try to salvage whatever I can of our first meeting."

"That would be very wise," Delainë said.

…

Juliette walked out into the street, clutching her letter tightly in her gloved hand. She had begged off from visiting the market with Lauren and Aunt Elaine. The market would not be the place for her, bustling crowds and merchants trying to take advantage of her, with no voice with which to defend herself.

So she resolved to take a solitary walk up to the castle to deliver her message. She had put on her straw bonnet, trimmed with light pink lace over her braided hair, tying the pink ribbons under her chin. She was not about to get burnt from the sun; the red of her face would clash with _everything_. With a little help from Hillary, she managed to pull on her ivory walking boots and find her ivory gloves. As an artist and fashion enthusiast (at least, out in the country), she was nothing if not colour coordinated. She left off her jacket. It was a nice afternoon, after all. The air was a little dry, but she was quite inland, not by the ocean. That was probably what she missed the most about Delainë, the smell of the ocean.

And the quietness of the sleepy seaside town. The bustle of Drewery was quite unexpected. The hotel wasn't even near the market. Where could all these people be going?

So caught up in her own thoughts that she almost knocked into someone who was walking towards her.

"Careful, Lady Juliette," a familiar smooth voice sounded, one arm catching her around the waist so she didn't end up face down in the dirt. "I don't think I support both our weights on one leg."

Julie was sure she was going to die of mortification. What did ladies do in this situation? Faint? She had never fainted before in her life, but there was always a first time for everything.

Unfortunately, her body wasn't listening to her head's commands to drop unconscious, so she had to grace him with a shaky smile, knowing that her face was probably an unattractive shade of fuchsia, due to the heat she could feel on her cheeks.

He let go of her as she regained her footing. Contrary to his words, she noticed that he could hold both their weights, albeit his hand was clutched rather tightly around his cane.

She was about to thrust the letter into his hands and walk back to her hotel when he spoke up again.

"I'd like to apologise for my brother."

Her shock must have been written all over her face because he added, dryly, "Women don't usually slap me for something I've done, but I have been mistaken for my brother more than once."

She nodded and thrust the letter into his hand, as was her previous plan. She did, however, wait to see his reaction. Nervously, she began nibbling on the tip of the thumb of her glove.

"Incidental bodily harm?" he read aloud, amused. "Subject to, although flattering, unwanted attention?" He looked up at her. "What exactly, er, happened last night?"

Julie sighed, and pursed her lips in thought, cocking her head slightly to the right. An idea obviously appearing in her mind, she snapped her head upright and showed him her hands, inviting him into her little world of signals. She held the forefinger of her right hand aloft. She pointed to herself with it, then put it straight up into the air again.

"That's you?" he queried.

She nodded, a smile gracing her face that he understood. The finger took a crouched position, an utterly bored look on Julie's face. The other forefinger came up, before pointing to him.

"That's me," Xavier said. He was entranced in her little finger play. She had marvellous expressions on her attractive face, and he couldn't help but go along when she was trying so hard to communicate.

She nodded again, and the two fingers in her little play went off together. The Xavier finger talked to her, and the Julie finger responded with little nods and shakes. Then the Xavier finger grew angry, demonstrated by the fierce frown on Julie's face. The Xavier finger left, and the Julie finger sat down again, only this time, she looked very sad.

Then the Xavier finger came back. She pointed to Xavier then shook her head, confusing him for a second. A blush started to stain her cheeks as she repeated the motion. Thankfully, understanding blossomed.

"Oh. You thought it was me, but it wasn't."

A smile of relief crept over her wide lips and she kept on going. The not-Xavier finger sat down next to the Juliette finger, startling the Juliette finger. Xavier watched Julie's face widen into an expression of surprise and suddenly wondered how she would look if after he had given her a thorough kissing. He caught up with his thoughts, and concentrated once again on the play. The not-Xavier finger began to stroke the Juliette finger, and the Juliette finger snapped up, and began to walk away, looking very angry.

Suddenly, the Xavier finger was back, demonstrated by her pointing at Xavier and nodding. The Juliette finger whacked the Xavier finger and left, leaving the Xavier finger confused.

"Then you left?" he asked. She nodded, dropping her hands. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Then I must apologise again for my brother. I'm sure he didn't actually think it was _you_, but that doesn't excuse his actions."

She touched her fingers to her chin and dropped her hand so that it was palm up in front of him.

Xavier stood there, slightly dumbstruck, as she repeated the motion, this time mouthing the words, 'Thank you.'

"Ah. You're welcome." Xavier looked at her, not quite feeling so bad about having to escort Julie around. Delainë was right, she was quite enchanting. "I don't suppose you're doing anything? If you can keep down to my speed, I'd be honoured to show you around town."

She made the _thank you_ motion again, this time with a slightly shy smile, and took his good arm.

Xavier escorted Julie through the quieter portion of town, showing her the grand Cathedral, which she adored and silently vowed that she would revisit with her charcoals, the Museum of Art, which contained all the eldest portraits of the early Drewery's, and finally, the battlements that surrounded the town.

As they walked, Xavier did not force Julie to talk at all, merely pointing things out, or occasionally asking a yes or no question. She did notice he stayed away from the topic of war, even when they were on top of the wall. That was okay with her. She didn't like war, either. It was during that scary year when she had stopped praying for her voice, and merely prayed for her brother's safe return.

Her eyes sneaked over to study him as he explaining about the rotation of the guards. His hair wasn't really black. The sun brought out deep brown highlights in his hair, glittering richly. He was dressed impeccably in black pants, shining black boots, and a deep blue coat over a crisp white shirt. She wondered briefly if he was still in partial mourning for his father, or if he was just partial to darker colours. She suspected it was a little bit of both.

During her study, she noticed that his face twitched slightly before becoming his easy smile again. His hand tightened on his cane, and she knew that he was overtaxing his leg.

Oh, how selfish she had been, making him show her around when his leg was still on the mend. She tugged on his jacket, gritting her teeth against her pride. She hated tugging on people's clothing to get their attention.

Xavier looked at her, pausing in the middle of his narration. Her face looked quite concerned, and she rubbed her right fist under her left collarbone.

He gave her a confused look. _I'm sorry,_ she mouthed.

"Sorry for what?" he asked, not knowing how to make it a yes or no question.

She motioned to his leg, then made little walking fingers. She threw her arm out and motioned all around, before pointing to his leg again and making a pained face.

"My leg doesn't hurt," he lied. It ached horribly, and he just wanted to collapse in a chair, but he wasn't about to make himself appear weaker in front of Julie.

She shook her head, and pointed to herself, then to her eyes.

"Well, then," Xavier admitted, "perhaps we should be heading back to your hotel anyway. It's almost dinner time."

Julie nodded and smiled at him.

…

Lauren Fer Grey looked out of the open carriage she and her mother were in and sighed. She was completely bored. It was too bad that Julie didn't wish to go with them, Lauren could have used the company. Her mother was no help; she was talking to the carriage driver about _history_ of all things. She decided that it was time to escape.

"Mama," Lauren called, "I'm going to walk from here."

"Alright," her mother said absently. "Larsson, stop the carriage." Larsson complied, and Lauren had the door of the carriage thrown open before the horses had even settled down.

Lauren walked confidently into the crowd, although she did clutch her purse tightly. The market was simply swarming with people. The noise of the buyers and sellers was almost deafening. Lauren loved it.

She bought a brightly coloured scarf from one place before purchasing two hot pies from a vendor. At the centre of one of the courtyards, stood a large wooden platform on which an acting troupe was performing a story about a young man lost at sea. It was devilishly entertaining, filling with innuendos and outright humour.

Lauren watched the play, eating first her chicken and gravy pie, then quickly devouring her hot blueberry pie. Again, she wished that Julie had come, but this time because she thought Julie would have enjoyed it. After clapping enthusiastically for the bowing actors, Lauren continued to peruse the shops.

She found a gold broach, inset with lapis lazuli for Julie, and a pack of embroidery thread for her mother. Lauren then found herself standing outside of a bookstore.

"The Dragon's Tale," she breathed, reading the wooden sign that hung from, predictably, a dragon's tail. She pushed the large wooden door and was heralded by the tinkling of the bell that hung above it.

One hour and three books later, Lauren exited the store, her nose deeply buried in one of her new editions. As a consequence, she wasn't watching where she was going, and bumped nose into chest with someone before falling on her rump with a small exclamation of surprise.

She gathered her book into her hand before the pages became soaked.

"I'm terribly sorry, miss," said the oaf who had knocked her flat on her rear. "I hope you aren't injured." A hand reached out to help her up. Lauren began to take it, looking up to see whom the man was.

Her eyes widened. "You!" she said, snatching her hand back as if he had tempted her to touch fire.

Zander Fer Drewery merely lifted a handsome black eyebrow. "Yes?"

"You're the complete scoundrel!" she stated, placing her knuckles on her hips, her book still held in one hand and her cloth bag of goods strung around the other wrist.

"I like to think I'm not a _complete_ scoundrel." He gave her a charming grin. "I do have some redeeming qualities."

"Ha!" she voiced her disbelief.

"It's quite true. I've been told many times by many differently people."

"Mostly thoroughly seduced young women, probably," Lauren countered.

Zander pressed a hand over his heart. "You would wound me my lady, if you were not sitting on a street, looking rather comical."

"As I recall, I was _knocked_ to the ground," Lauren said, refusing his hand again and pushing herself back up.

"And as I recall, the only reason you landed such was because you had your nose pressed deeply into that book of yours."

Lauren scowled. It was true, what he said. She _hadn't_ been paying attention. She decided to leave with some sense of dignity.

"At least I have the skills as which to read said book," she said, hoping to get the last word in. "If you'll excuse me." She pushed past the irritating man, and started walking home with her nose stuck firmly in the air. Nevertheless, she could hear him chuckling behind her.

"Odious man," she muttered under her breath as soon as she was out of earshot.

She reached the hotel quite quickly (showing just how slow her mother and the carriage _was_) and was climbing the stairs to their suite on the second floor, when Hillary approached her.

"Fer ye, milady," she said with a bow, holding a small envelope out to her.

Lauren tore open the wax seal right there on the stairs. It was an invitation to a party for the next evening. How thrilling!

"Milady," she heard Hillary say, and looked up to see Julie starting to climb the stairs.

"Look at this, Jules," she exclaimed. "We've been invited to a party."

_That's great,_ she signed, but her expression wasn't as exited as Lauren thought she would be.

"What is it?" she asked, as they entered their rooms.

Julie sighed as she stripped off her gloves. She had quite a few pairs as she seemed to nibble through the tips of them quite quickly. _Last time, I sat behind a fern all evening_. _I'm not overly eager to get snubbed again._

"Oh, you won't," Lauren said. "I promise. Please say you'll come? Mama won't let me go if you don't. Please? Please? Pretty please?" She let her lower lip quiver.

Julie wrinkled her nose in her silent laughter. _Alright_, she signed. _I'll go._


	4. Wager

Hmm... I don't have much to say here. I'm having a bit of trouble writing chapter five, but I'm sure my WB will disappate afterseveral hours of homework. I know where I _want_ this story to go, I'm just having some problems _getting_ it there. Oh well.

Another Drewery law:

There's a law that there can be no alchoholic beverages served at a party in Drewery Castle. That's why they always have punch.

See you next week!

-Lulai

Chapter Four: Wager

Xavier surveyed the room from his strategically chosen spot under the stairs. It was a stroke of genius on his own part. The small alcove provided the perfect observation point of the dance floor while still being enough in the room that no one could describe him as standoffish.

Not that he cared one whit. He hated these parties. He hated the false cheer, he hated the judgemental standards, but most of all, he hated the nobilities ignorance. These parties didn't care that he had gone off to the war. He knew they had continued on even when he and his father had been fighting for their lives. They continued on now, while men were still out there, cleaning up the minor skirmishes.

Honestly, he was here for only one reason, to make Juliette's stay as pleasant as he possibly could. Xavier just hoped he that his efforts tonight would make it worthwhile.

His brown eyes roamed over the dancing couples until they came to rest on Julie's golden head. A head that was unfortunately sticking at least two inches above her partner's. Still, at least she was smiling.

Xavier squinted at the back of the man's head, trying to discern who it was.

"Who are we staring at?"

Xavier felt the surprise in his throat, but years of military training had steeled his nerves enough that he barely flickered an eyelash.

"No one in particular, Zander," he replied, accepting the glass of red wine from his brother's hand. It was one pro for this party. As it was not being held at the castle, Grenalda wasn't prohibited by law from serving alcohol. Xavier took a swallow and grimaced.

"Not his best stuff," Zander commented, swirling the drink in his glass.

"Not to mention that it tastes as though it's been watered down about two-thirds," Xavier agreed.

"To Grenalda's tightfistedness," Zander mock toasted, tinking his glass against Xavier's before they both downed the weak drink in one gulp.

"So?" Zander asked, twirling the stem of his glass casually in his right hand. "Who is she?"

"Who's who?" Xavier replied, just as casually. The question didn't really surprise him. Sometimes, it seemed that Zander had a sixth sense, especially when Xavier was involved.

"This woman you're after," Zander elaborated.

"I'm not after any woman." Xavier deposited his empty glass on the tray of a passing server. "Unlike you, I don't plan a secret assignation every night."

"Xavier," Zander said, ignoring the barb and casting a condescending eye on his little brother, "please don't think I'm stupid. You _hate_ these parties. You once said you'd rather cut off your own arm than be seen at one. And yet, here you are, limbs intact, at the _Grenalda's_ of all places. The Drewery's and Grenalda's have been enemies since our grandparent's day. I must conclude then, that you're either here to stab Arthur Fer Grenalda through the chest, or some chit has caught your fancy. While I would thoroughly enjoy the former, I rather suspect the woman theory. So, I will reiterate. Who is she?"

"Sometimes," Xavier responded testily, "you are far too intelligent for your own good."

Zander gave him a cheeky grin. "It comes from being eldest."

"I'm not interested in this woman," Xavier protested, "except maybe in the sense of self-preservation."

"And what's this woman's name?"

"Lady Juliette Fer Delainë," Xavier replied with a slight wince.

Zander's eyes widened. "Not any relation to Eric Fer Delainë?"

"Her brother."

Zander wagged his head sympathetically. "You sure know how to pick them."

Xavier sighed and pressed two fingers into his temple as if warding off a headache. "I didn't pick her. Her brother approached me and threatened to have me incarcerated if I didn't ease her way into society."

"Incarcerated for what?" his brother asked, his expression losing its teasing edge and growing more serious.

Xavier had the ridiculous urge to look around to see if anyone was within earshot, but thought it might look childish. "Do you remember Miranda?" he asked.

Zander nodded. "Wasn't she the one Grenalda was consorting with?"

"Consorting with and getting pregnant," Xavier commented dryly. He continued, "After finding that out, Grenalda left her completely destitute. I, finding a perverse sort of pleasure in helping anyone who knows dastardly secrets about Grenalda, unthinkingly gave her a secret gift of three hundred gold and told her to go make a better life for herself. Delainë found out somehow."

"And you have to squire around his sister or he'll tell the world," Zander finished grimly.

"Pretty much," Xavier confirmed. "But if I do this for him, he'll erase all memories of my transgrettions."

"It might be easier to be shackled to this girl for… how long?"

"One month," Xavier replied.

Zander nodded. "One month than try and fight Delainë."

"That was my conclusion too. However, there is a complication."

"Oh?" Zander's eyebrows rose in question.

"She's mute."

"Mute?"

"You know, unable to speak?"

Zander rolled his eyes at his brother's sarcasm. "Is she pretty?"

Xavier paused. "She isn't a classical beauty," he said slowly, "but she is very striking."

"Is she simple?"

Xavier scowled at the question. "Absolutely not. She's as intelligent as you or I."

"So she's a good looking, intelligent female who doesn't talk," Zander summed up with a half grin. "Isn't that what every man wants in a wife?"

Shifting his weight more over onto his good leg, Xavier chuckled. His twin was always sharp, even if his jokes were slightly off colour. "Unfortunately," he said, his laughter dying, "I'm having a hard time convincing anyone else of her intelligence. They think that because she can't talk, she can't think."

Xavier looked up as he realised the music had stopped. Julie curtsied to her partner, which he realised was none other than Grenalda himself, and her blue gaze landed on him. A sunny smile split her face, brightening the room.

She picked up her seafoam green skirts and began dodging her way between the other couples on the dance floor to where Xavier and Zander were standing.

The floor being as crowded as it was, Xavier had plenty of time to study her. Her light green dress was trimmed with blond lace, and although it was a few years out of style, it fit her perfectly. Her hair was pulled up in a knot of ringlets, but a couple had fallen out and curled limply beside her face, due to the heat in the room.

Zander didn't say anything, just watched his brother watch Julie cross the room, a sly sort of smile on his face.

Finally, she came up beside where the brothers were standing, blowing out a breath of air in a rush and wiping the back of her hand on her forehead as if to say that the walk over had been quite hard work.

"My lady," Xavier said, bowing slightly over her gloved hand which he taken in his own.

She curtsied slightly to him.

"Are you having a good time?" Xavier asked, noting to himself with surprise that he wanted her to answer in the affirmative, not just so her brother wouldn't kill him, but because he actually wanted her to be enjoying herself.

To his relief, she nodded enthusiastically.

"So this is the infamous Lady Juliette," his brother's voice drawled from behind his shoulder. Almost instantly, Julie's entire demeanour changed. A vicious scowl replaced the smile and her eyes went icy with anger. Xavier was again struck by how much she resembled her brother. He had been the recipient of that angry glare more than once.

"This is my brother, Prince Zander Fer Drewery," Xavier introduced needlessly.

Julie pointed angrily to Zander, who was still grinning slightly, then pointed to her ear.

"What?" Xavier asked, completely confused.

"I believe, my dear brother," Zander said, "that Lady Julie hasn't quite forgiven me for licking her ear the other night."

"You licked her ear?" Xavier asked incredulously at the same time that Julie crossed her arms over her chest and nodded, her blonde brows drawn together, forming two small lines between them.

"Yes," Zander admitted, "but I didn't, of course, know it wasn't who I thought it was. You have my sincerest apologies, my lady." He bowed to her and Julie's expression softened, if only a little.

Zander straightened, his gaze caught by something or someone behind her. "If you'll excuse me," he murmured and walked off.

Xavier bit back a sigh and rubbed his thigh wearily. "I suppose I should apolo-"

Julie shook her head, cutting off his words. She made a motion by putting the tips of all her fingers together, and then spreading her hands, palms down.

"It doesn't matter?" Xavier guessed. She nodded and smiled again..

Then disaster struck.

"…but apparently they've trained her to dance normally," he overheard. Xavier glanced around, quickly picking out two men chatting nearby, throwing glances over in Julie's direction.

"Not only that, but Xavier is willing to pay any man five gold to dance with her," the other commented.

Xavier shot a slightly horrified look at Julie. Her face had gone suspiciously pale.

"Well, he'd have to." The man took a sip of the awful wine. "No one would want to dance with a deaf-mute otherwise."

Julie's eyes filled with tears, and she looked Xavier angrily, but with more than a little hurt glimmering in her gaze.

"My lady, let me explain," Xavier started, but was again cut off by Juliette's shaking head. She turned on her heel and began walking away extremely quickly. Cursing, Xavier forced his bad leg into action and limped after her.

"My lady," he called out after her, each time, a little more forceful. "My lady… My lady… Juliette! Listen to me!" At this last, he managed to lunge forward and grab her shoulder, spinning her about to face him. They stood on the small front lawn, illuminated by the oil lanterns from the front of Grenalda's townhouse. The street was fairly deserted, and the music and talking of the party muted.

Julie wrenched her arm out of his grasp. "D-hon't!" she cried.

So shocked by the sound of her voice, Xavier was rendered temporarily speechless. It was a strangely masculine sound, rough and grating, and she spoke as if her tongue was twice its normal size. It seemed almost alien as it was forced through her feminine lips.

But Xavier recovered after a second. "Don't what?" he asked, his temper starting to flare. He knew he blundered badly, but, damn it, he did it for her! Couldn't she see that? "Don't make you feel welcome? Don't help you have a pleasant time? Don't make your stay more comfortable?"

Julie's face was pale except for two patches of pink on her cheeks and her brightly glittering eyes. "Is it tah-rue?" she asked accusingly. "Yhou pah-haid mohney?"

"Yes," Xavier admitted, "I did bribe those men to dance with you."

"_Why_?" she asked, anguish clear in her voice. "Pah-hity?"

A flicker of pain ran across her open face, and suddenly, Xavier knew that it wasn't directed at him. It seemed to take a lot of work to get her deep grating voice to work, and he could tell that she was disgusted by the sounds she made. Instantly, he felt a little bit touched that she was talking to him. His voice softened.

"No. I just didn't want you to sit behind a plant for another evening. I didn't mean any harm by it."

She looked somewhat mollified at that, and Xavier decided that a little bit of the truth wouldn't hurt.

"Your brother asked me to try and make your stay a nice one," he said, his hand twisting on his cane. His leg hurt like hell from chasing after her, but he was going to try and save their relationship (and consequently, his life) before he collapsed onto the ground.

Her eyes widened. "Yhou n-hoe Eh-ric?"

"Yes," Xavier half-lied. "From the war."

"Why d-hidn't yhou t-hell me?" she asked, but her tears were slowly dissipating.

Xavier shrugged. "After I met you, it was no longer merely a favour for a friend, but I enjoyed your company." He waved a hand towards the house. "I am truly sorry about that in there. Unfortunately, most of the nobility are ignorant jacka- er, buffoons."

"Evhen Z-hander?" she asked, a corner of her mouth turning up.

"He's not as bad," Xavier defended his brother, "but I didn't think you'd be much interested in dancing with him."

"Ver-rey tah-rue," she admitted with wry lift of her eyebrows.

"My lady." He took her gloved hand in his free one. "I realise that I insulted you greatly, but I had the best intentions."

Her other hand covered his, and she smiled. "Ah un-der-stan." Her voice grew hoarser, but she cleared her throat and tried again. "Ahll is fhor-giv-ven."

Xavier squeezed her hand. "Don't tire out your voice. How about we forget this incident ever happened?"

Julie nodded, and they walked back into the party together.

…

"What happens next, Miss Lauren?" an eager young man asked, leaning forward eagerly. Several other men were equally entranced.

Lauren graced him with a mock frown. "If you would let me continue, Lord Stone." The young lord blushed as the others sent him stern looks of reprimand. Her voice dropped down into the hushed tones of a stage whisper.

"Fortified by his friends' encouragement and the three mugs of ale, our foolish hero crept into the cemetery with his hammer and a long iron spike, about the size of your forefinger to drive into the grave of the detested Count Danger, who was so tightfisted in life, that after he died, they couldn't even remove the bed covers from his bony hands. Brushing the cobwebs out of his face, out hero went deeper into the depths of the dead, these thoughts swirling about in his head. Suddenly spooked, he decided to forgo taking his time to impress his fellows, and get the grisly chore over and done with.

"He spotted the grave, illuminated by a thin shaft of moonlight streaming through the dark clouds and hurried towards it. He drove the nail as deeply as he could with one hard stroke. Relieved that the burden was over and done with, he turned to leave, when low and behold, he found that he couldn't move an inch! The clammy hand of Count Danger had reached out of the abyss of death to grab hold of whatever poor soul had dared interrupt his eternal slumber.

"Our hero struggled, screamed, and curse, all to no avail. The cold hand had him firmly within its grasp.

Lauren's voice grew even quieter. "His friends found him the next morning, his fingers knuckle deep in the soil, trying to claw his way away from his inevitable demise. Count Danger wouldn't let go, even in death!"

One look around confirmed that the men were deeply engrossed in the story. It couldn't have gone better. Or so she thought.

"We've heard that story since out cribs. I must commend you on your passionate recitation, though, Miss Lauren."

Lauren cringed. She'd recognise that smooth mocking voice anywhere. Schooling her features into a haughty expression, she turned. "Really, your highness?" she asked coolly. "You don't think that the dead can speak to us from beyond the grave?"

Zander stood there, looking quite amused and damnably handsome in his green velvet tails. However, he opened his arrogant mouth again, ruining what would have been a perfect picture.

"Of course not. I rather think the poor fool drove the nail into his own cape, and his imagination ran away with him."

"Imagination is a very powerful thing," Lauren countered. "Sometimes, more real than truth."

"It's a good thing I don't have an imagination, then," Zander replied, "else I would be afraid to leave my room for all the shadows on the walls."

"Are you not frightened of anything then, your highness?" Lauren asked, with a false sweetness that rung.

"Unless it's the cold hand of marriage, then no," Zander quipped. Several of the men laughed.

"Not that you'd ever have a problem like that, right?" Lauren batted her eyelashes at him comically. "Why settle for one, when you can seduce any woman you want? Well, maybe not _any_ woman…"

"And what is that comment supposed to mean?" A dimple appeared in his left cheek which would have looked very appealing if it had not been accompanied by a sardonic smirk.

"That I don't think you'd be able to seduce any reasonable, self-respecting female with an intelligence level above that of a common turnip." With that, she flashed him another one of her sickeningly sweet smiles.

If anything, Zander's grin grew wider. "I'll take that bet."

Lauren's smile faltered, but only slightly. "What bet?"

"That I can seduce any woman you name."

"I would not be so cruel to my own gender as to recommend any of them to you." Lauren inwardly gloated. She seemed to be winning this verbal battle.

"What about you, Miss Lauren?" Lord Stone called out. "You're smarter than a turnip." Lauren's jaw fell to the floor as several other men called out their agreement.

Zander's smile grew positively wolfish. "Yes, Miss Lauren. I think there should be some sort of challenge in this wager, and you're probably as tough as the next woman."

"I'm afraid," Lauren said, smiling through her gritted teeth, "that you'll find my defences harder to breach than Drewery's walls."

"Are you declining, then?" he asked, adopting her innocent expression from before.

"Of course not!" she replied, gaining back her momentum. "I'm merely thinking about how much you are willing to lose on this fool's bet."

"Fifty gold sound enough?" Zander suggested.

"Deal." Lauren stuck out her hand to seal the bargain.

Zander took her extended palm and pulled her into his embrace, his lips coming down to claim hers for a brief second. It was like being scorched by the sun, only… nicer.

"Deal," he replied, breaking their lips among the whistles and shouts of encouragement from the onlookers.

Then he melted back into the crowd. Lauren managed to laugh it off, but later, when she and Julie were in the carriage on their way back to the hotel, she touched her lips with her fingertips and wondered just what she had gotten herself into.


	5. Grandparents

I'm sorry this is so late, guys. I had to work all day. I'm also sorry about the quality of this chapter. I was super busy this week and kind of threw it together between classes. I solemnly swear that the next chapter will be better. Next chapter, stuff happens! Until then, enjoy some of our old friends.

Random Drewery Law:

You cannot ride a horse backwards from the castle doors after noon.

See you next Saturday!

-Lulai

Chapter Five: Grandparents

Julie had quite the rude awakening when Hillary threw open the shutters on the windows and flooded the room with mid-morning light. Groaning, she smothered her face in her pillow, cursing the sun, and wondering why the heck she had to get up at all. Her brother was a duke! Surely that counted for something.

Hillary, quite used to dressing a semi-comatose mistress, had no problems pulling her out of bed, and pushing her arms into her violet day dress. If Julie had been able to control the slack muscles of her face, she would have given her maid such a glare. As it was, however, she merely let herself be dressed like a doll. What was the point? Everyone thought she was a simpleton anyway.

Except for Xavier. A sleepy smile came over her face, her eyes still closed. He was nice. A good friend. An incredibly handsome friend.

"That impossible cad! Arrogant jerk!" Several crashes followed these epithets, jolting Julie into a slightly more alive being. With a tired sag of her shoulders, she decided that she should see what was going on. She walked out of her rented room, her left eye slightly more awake than her right one.

Both eyes widened considerably, however, when she saw what had made Lauren so angry. Covering their common room and heading into Lauren's bedchambers was at least a hundred vases of flowers. Lauren stood at her door, several of the vases knocked over by her skirts, fuming.

Julie waved at her to get her attention.

_Don't move!_ she signed. Suddenly wonderfully awake, Julie sprinted back into her room to grab her charcoal stick and sketchbook. Grabbing a chair, she eagerly nibbled on the middle nail of her finger, before frantically scribbling down the lines that would capture this moment forever.

"Jules!" Lauren said angrily. "Why in the world are you taking down this?"

She placed her pencil down just long enough to sign, _It's so romantic_. Squinting and cocking her head to the right, she studied the way the light hit the vases. She used the edge of her thumb to soften the shadows.

"Romantic?" Lauren practically shrieked. "It's the most hair brained thing I've ever seen anyone do!"

Julie poked her charcoal pencil behind her ear. _Why does this irritate you so much?_ she asked. _I would love it if someone sent me a hundred flowers._

"Yes, but he wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't for the bet." She mumbled the last to herself, but Julie still heard.

Julie's eyes narrowed and she flipped her hands from palm up to palm down. _Bet?_

Lauren immediately wished she could bite back her words.

_What bet?_ Julie squinted at her, as if she could discern all of Lauren's secrets merely by a look.

A strained laugh forced its way past Lauren's lips. "Oh, it's nothing." Nothing, hah.

Julie rightly didn't believe her, indicated by her raised eyebrows.

Embarrassed, Lauren began to mumble, "I may have, inadvertently, bet that Prince Zander, er, couldn't, uh, seduce me."

As quiet as she was, apparently one and a half ears was all Julie needed to hear her. Open mouthed, she struck the forefinger of her right hand against her other palm.

_What?_

Lauren threw her hands in the air. "I _know_! Believe me. I wish I could have bitten back my pride and just let it go. But I couldn't!"

_I guess being mute sometimes comes with benefits,_ Julie signed ironically.

Lauren curled her lip and shoved her mass of brown hair back from her face. "I wish that… that…" Fiend. Arrogant cad. Torment of her life. Best kisser she had ever met. "… _man_ would just stop antagonising me. I just wanted to take him down a couple pegs, now he's out to get me."

_Or at least kiss you,_ Julie signed, a bit of a grin starting to creep across her lips, much to Lauren's annoyance.

"He's already done that," Lauren replied without thinking. She realised her error immediately after she opened her mouth.

Julie's smile had grown to epic proportions. _Was it nice?_ she asked innocently.

"Julie!" Lauren's voice had grown precariously close to a whine. "How can you ask something like that? This is _Zander_ we're talking about! The prince who licked your ear!"

Julie shrugged. _I didn't like him licking me, but you're a totally different person._

"Well, no. It was absolutely horrible," Lauren lied. "I wouldn't do it again for fifty gold." She was just about fed up with everything and everyone, and the day had barely begun.

"Will someone _please_ get these stupid flowers out of my way?" she bellowed.

Julie winced and plugged her good ear. _Where's your mother?_ she signed.

Lauren sighed, and lifted her skirts well above her knees and began navigating her way around the vases. "I have no clue. Just left a note. _Gone sightseeing. See you at dinner._" The back of her skirt caught a pot of irises, causing it to knock over another one, and thus setting off a domino effect that took down at least twenty of the others.

With an angry snort, Lauren stomped the rest of the way to the door. "I'll be back at dinner," she said, grabbing her purse, then slammed the door and was gone.

Julie smiled at the mayhem, and continued her sketching.

…

Xavier limped out of the front doors, his mind busy on other things. On one other thing, in actuality. A beautiful thing that was invading his thoughts day and night. It was really quite frightening as to how much time Xavier actually spent thinking on his charge. The truly scary thing was, Juliette was starting to mean more to him than simply someone who needed to be shown around. It was even different than brotherly concern.

Luckily, however, Juliette managed to blend into the background. After the initial stir, Lauren and Zander's bet seemed to take the cake with the gossip mongers. He had attended parties with her all week, being her voice when she wanted to speak, and sitting quietly beside her when she grew tired. It was quite a privilege, and he was honoured that she chose him to be her spokesman, even though his grasp on her charades was shaky. The eternal pessimist in him kept stating that it was only because she didn't know anyone else, but he tried to ignore the voice as much as possible.

He shook his head, as if to dispel the woman from his thoughts, but she seemed to have taken up permanent residence there. He needed to talk with his grandmother.

Xavier was just limping down the stairs when he noticed someone lying on the lawn on the hill, looking up at the castle. Coming closer, he realised with a pleasant surprise that it was none other than Juliette. She was wearing a mint green dress with white lace trimming, and lying on her stomach, chewing off a fingernail while squinting up at the castle.

She kicked her left foot into the air, temporarily causing her skirts to fall up to her knee, giving Xavier a tantalizing glimpse of a well muscled calf before she returned her foot to its fellow and tucked down her dress with an absentminded hand.

She scribbled something down in front of her, and it was then that Xavier realised that she was sketching the castle. He had never seen her drawings before, although he had heard about them from a couple people.

Her hand jerked out of her mouth, and she looked down at her finger in distaste. It looked as though she had bitten off more nail than was good. She glared at her offensive finger for a second, then, cocking her head as she looked at the castle, she scribbled down a few more lines.

Juliette was almost finished her drawing. It had taken quite a bit of the morning, and she now had two sore fingernails, but she just had a few touch up shadings to do. It was the last piece of architecture in the city that she hadn't put down in her note book, and she wanted to remember it forever.

"It's a beautiful castle, isn't it?" Xavier's voice sounded from behind her. She immediately went to her knees to see Xavier standing beside her, looking up at the castle too. He looked down at her and smiled, the black of his eyes softening to a deep rich brown with flecks of gold. Julie could _feel _her insides melt at that smile.

She started to rise to her feet, but Xavier held out his hand. "You don't have to get up. Please, finish your drawing."

Julie smiled gratefully and plopped back down, determined to get these last shadings over with so that she could walk with Xavier wherever he was going. To her astonishment, there was a soft 'whumph' as Xavier sat down beside her, stretching out his bad leg in front of him, a small frown on his face. She pointed to his leg with a curious look on her face.

A rueful smile crossed his lips. "Yes, I don't really have much grace when I sit down. I'm sorry." She shook her head, shrugging her shoulders to show that it didn't matter to her. She frowned as a cloud covered the sun, ruining her light. It cleared after a few seconds, and she continued her drawing quickly. After smudging a line on her drawing with the edge of her thumb, she nibbled the nail on her ring finger, studying her sketch. Nodding her head in satisfaction, she flipped over into a sitting position beside Xavier.

He smiled at her. "You have some charcoal on you," he said.

Julie made a face. Her thumb and two of her fingers were covered. She must have transferred it to her cheeks while biting her nails. Using her palm, which was fairly clean, she began to rub her face, trying to remove the offending marks.

"Here, let me," Xavier murmured. Her ran his thumb over her cheek, swiping away the black smudge. Julie barely refrained from shivering. She could feel his touch all the way to her toes which curled in her sturdy mint green slippers, and it rooted her to the spot. Her mouth opened slightly, and she could feel the flush rise to her cheeks.

Xavier saw her arousal immediately and it sent a swift pang through him. His fingers unconsciously followed his thumb over her satiny skin, and felt lost as he stared into her clear blue eyes. Not wanting to frighten her, he latched onto the first thing he could think of.

"May I see your drawing?" he asked, breaking the spell, removing his hand.

Julie nodded, handing the sketchbook over to him, lowering her eyes so that he didn't see the disappointment there.

"These are good!" he exclaimed, leafing through her book.

She raised her eyebrows and took the book from him, and, flipping to the last page, scribbled something then handed it back to him.

_You needn't sound so surprised,_ it said it a flowing script.

He laughed. "I apologise. I had heard about your art, but I had not seen it before." One picture caught his eye. It was a great number of flowers, sketched in exquisite detail, a clear path of ones that had been knocked down, as if someone had walked through. He felt as though he could reach out and touch them.

"Z-hander," Julie said, noting his interest.

"That's where he was that morning," Xavier chuckled. He wanted to be mad at his brother for the ridiculous bet that he had made, but honestly, he had never seen Zander so happy as when he was planning what he was going to do to Lauren next. And Lauren wasn't a normal woman who would kow-tow to him, which was definitely a switch from the other women Zander had been with. Xavier secretly hoped that Zander might finally settle down with this one and take the stress of the kingdom off their mother's shoulders.

Julie nodded. He flipped to the next picture, which was of several flamboyantly dressed men, all in several different positions, their mouths open and their arms thrown outwards.

"He arranged for minstrels to sing to her?" he asked, his voice hinted with humour.

Shaking her head with a smile on her lips, Julie made a motion by swiping her hand towards him in a circle, slapping it face up on her other palm, then tucking her fingers in the crook of her elbow and elevating her hand.

Feeling useless, Xavier shook his head to show he didn't understand.

"Ahll m-horn-ing," she said, her voice as grating and rough as ever. She made a face at it too.

Wanting to dispel his thoughts from her ugly voice, Julie pointed to him and flicked her finger down the road, her eyebrows raised in question.

"Actually, I was on my way to see my grandparents," he supplied in answer to her question. "Would you like to come?"

Julie hesitated.

"Don't be worried," Xavier reassured her. "They might be a bit intimidating at first, but they're really quite the nicest people you could ever meet." He grinned boyishly at her. "And they spoil me quite rotten."

Hoping she wasn't making a huge mistake, she nodded and stood, extending her hand to help Xavier up. He pretended not to see it, and leaned heavily on his cane, getting up with some difficulty and a couple of swear words that Julie was quite certain she wasn't supposed to hear. She rolled her eyes hugely when he wasn't looking at her. Men and their pride.

Xavier smiled and took her arm, acting as if he had stood up with absolutely no problem at all. Julie refrained from rolling her eyes again.

They were announced at the front door of one of the biggest townhouses on the block.

"My grandparents moved here after Father married Mother," Xavier was explaining as they waited in the entrance hall. "They were the first couple to cede the crown before their death in about two hundred years. They moved in here so they could be close to Grandmother's sister, Lady Turnbull."

"You can come with me to the blue saloon," the butler said, returning. They followed quietly, Xavier's cane thumping softly on the carpet.

"Xavier! It's been an age since you've visited." Fiona Fer Drewery sat on a couch, mending one of the maid's dress. Her husband sat in another chair, putting down a book that he had been reading.

Fiona stood to envelope her grandson in a hug. The years had been kind to Fiona. Although age had rounded her hips and turned her hair more grey than brown, her senses had not diminished at all.

"It's only been two weeks, Grandmother," Xavier said, returning the hug.

"And who's this lovely lady you're with?" Fiona said, turning to Julie.

"This is Lady Juliette Fer Delainë," he introduced. "Juliette, this is my grandmother, Lady Fiona Fer Drewery. I'm showing Juliette around the city while she's staying here."

"Call me Fiona," Fiona said, clasping Julie's in a warm grip and indicating a seat for her to take. Julie sat down, tucking her skirts under her. Xavier sat in a chair beside her. "And the unresponsive man in the chair is my husband Jarrod."

"I'm not unresponsive," the older handsome man said. His hair had gone white, but Julie could still see his relation to Xavier. "I'm just not as young as my wife."

Fiona laughed and gently punched her husband in the shoulder as she sat back down, this time on the other end of the couch, closer to her husband. She was dressed quite plainly in sky blue, which brought out her unique blue-green eyes, with nothing that indicated her rank. Julie frowned. What was the woman's rank? Ex-queen?

"Delainë?" Jarrod was saying, interrupting Julie's thoughts. "Isn't that the port city that Cassie went on her honeymoon too?"

Fiona nodded. "Daphne as well, if I remember correctly. Oh, and Josephine's husband used to live there."

Julie looked to Xavier. She through her fingers up into the air, her head cocked in question.

"Grandmother had ten sisters," Xavier answered, interpreting the question correctly.

"In alphabetical order too," Jarrod added dryly.

Xavier nodded. "It become an almost a family tradition."

Fiona's eyes filled with pain. "Yes. We were so hopeful with Aaron…" Jarrod reached down and entwined his fingers with his wife's, and she smiled at him, her pain fading.

"They wanted a big family," Xavier leaned over to murmur in Julie's ear, "but after Father, all the other babies miscarried. That's why they spoil us grandchildren so much."

Julie bit her lip in sympathy for the woman. Fiona was so nice, she deserved to have a nice family.

"Anyway," Fiona said, looking to Julie, "how is your visit to Drewery going?"

"It's going well," Xavier answered.

Fiona shot him a quelling look. "The girl can speak for herself, young man."

A blush infused Julie's cheeks, and Xavier struggled to think of what to say. He didn't want to insult her by saying that she couldn't speak, because she could, but on the other hand, he couldn't say that she could speak because he knew she hated the sound of her voice.

Julie shook her head, her eyes downcast, her pain evident.

"I don't think she can talk, darling" Jarrod told his wife softly, catching on after a slightly awkward silence.

"Juliette prefers not to talk," Xavier explained smoothly. "It's one of the reason I'm escorting her around town."

Xavier's heart twisted when he saw that Julie was in an almost unconscious wince, as if waiting for censor from his grandparents. She was nibbling on her finger nervously.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Fiona said, laying a hand on Julie's thigh. "I didn't mean to offend you. Can you forgive me?"

Slowly, Julie straightened, nodding. She looked at Xavier, making the sign for A, B, and C, before fluttering her fingers in a continuing fashion.

"A through J," Xavier confirmed, seeing her attempt to get back on a safer topic. "My father decided to name us backwards. He had a strange twisted sense of humour that way. He didn't think that the last letters of the alphabet were used enough."

"He was like your Great Uncle Tyrell that way," Jarrod told Xavier.

Julie looked at him in confusion, not quite sure how to show her question. She drew a 'Z' and an 'X' in the air, but then drew a 'Y', and lifted her hands as if to ask where.

"I'm sorry," Fiona said, shaking her head. "I don't understand what you're saying."

"I think I do," Xavier replied. "You're wondering why we skipped 'Y' in our names."

Smiling in relief, Julie nodded.

"That was me," Jarrod supplied. "I refused have any of my grandchildren named Yancy."

"Thank you," Xavier replied seriously.

"No problem," Jarrod replied.

Julie took a cookie and bit into it. It was slightly burnt on the bottom, but other than that, it was fairly good.

"Do you like them?" Fiona asked. "I made them myself. I'm learning to cook." A mischievous smile came over her face, revealing the pretty woman she used to be. "I'm sure that the chef considers me the bane of his life."

"With all that we're paying him, you should be able to run amok in that kitchen all you want," Jarrod said dryly.

"I'm getting better," Fiona explained. "The first bunch, I forgot the sugar."

Jarrod's face was a mask, but a twitch at the corner of his mouth gave him away. "They weren't that bad."

"They were horrible, you liar," Fiona said lovingly. Julie looked away as the older couple shared a moment. She wished that she might one day have a love like that, but she dismissed the thought. No one could love someone without a voice. But a grain of hope kept the thought alive.


	6. Proposals

Hey guys. I have made an executive decision. I'm going to bring back the review responses! (yay!) Nobody else seems to be getting in trouble, and honestly, I'm way too lazy to review you all by hand. (Anne, you're so much better than I am.) So, yeah! Screw the establishment! ((looks around, sees establishment watching)) And by screw, I mean, er, love and obey. Yes, love and obey.

**mistyqueen:** Thanks.

**HolmesismyHomie:** I wanted to actually carry a couple of characters over into another story.

**Tiger Lily21:** Jarrod and Fiona won't be a huge part of the story, but they will help out later on, so I didn't just want them to pop out of nowhere. I hope your opinion of Zander improves. I love him so much. It's hard to write a rakish character, I'm better at the wholesome type, probably because that's more who I am. I reviewed your story!

**Twist130:** Thank you!

**monkeys-and-bananas76:** Thanks. I'm excited for stuff to start happening as well.

**Akwyn:** Yes, well,I didn't really want Jarrod and Fiona to have the perfect life after their story, because that very rarely happens. The whole bad things happen to good people type thing, but I wanted to show that they are still strong, and still together, and made their way through it.

**Glitterpoison:** Yay!

**awaiting impatient person:** I actually thought about you when I wrote that arousal line. I was like, 'I wonder if anyone will read alot into the word arousal. Probably just aip. She's too much like me.' Lauren is liking Zander too much for her liking. I also love Xavier. He's so fricken noble, it makes my teeth hurt. (although, I just got braces, so my teeth hurt anyway.) Your wish is my command!

**Arieda Rivers:** Yeah, like I said to Akwyn,I wanted to show that life doesn't always go as we want it. I'm such a science dork, though. I totally make sure my story makes biological sense. Like, I always think of genetics when writing my characters. And Fiona actually suffers from the Rhesus factor, which is basically that her body makes antibodies to fight her baby, because her baby's blood is Rh+ (which is a dominate triat, from the father) and her blood is Rh-.

**AidenRae:** They're a little bit of both. They help out a little down the line, but they're not going to be major characters.

**twinkle toesies:** yay!

**panemonium:** I hope you did well on your test! I had such a hard time with Beowulf, mostly because the version we read was almost directly translated. Half the time I was like, huh?and the other half I was, what? Xavier is doing very well, and I think he'll pick it up as we go along.

Ahhh... I missed doing that. In personal news, I just got braces on Monday. I'm still on soft foods. I can't even touch my teeth together without pain. Ugh. Anywho, I am going to be away next weekend, so I'll try and have the chapter up by Friday morning, but it might be Sunday afternoon. Just FYI.

See you next week!

-Lulai

Chapter Six: Proposal

"Well," Xavier said to Julie as they left his grandparent's house, "you survived my grandparents."

Julie nodded. "Th-hey are ver-rey nice," she said.

"Quite so," he agreed. "I think I can count all the times I've seen my grandparents angry on my hands, and usually it's at each other." He noticed the puckering of Julie's eyebrows as if she was trying very hard not to frown. "What is it?"

She shook her head. "N-hoth-ing." She looked at him. "Yhou are l-hucky. Ah d-hon't have ger-hand-par-ents."

"Thank you," Xavier said seriously. "I know I'm very lucky. Are you planning on attending the party at Lord and Lady Endall's tonight?" he asked, trying to get her thoughts onto less somber matters.

Shrugging her shoulders, Julie sighed. "Lau-ren whants to."

Taking her elbow in his hand, he began escorting her back towards her hotel. He didn't get a chance to talk with his grandmother like he wanted, but it was almost better now that Fiona had met Juliette.

"And do you always do what Lauren wants?" he asked, not unkindly.

"Ess, b-hut it's be-cause Ah l-hove her," she replied. Turning to give him a shining smile, she cleared her throat. "Ah l-hike be-ing with yhou too."

He patted her hand. "Please, write. Your voice is going raw again."

She nodded, and pulled out her sketchbook, flipping to the last page. Xavier almost regretted asking her to write. As strange a voice as it was, he always looked forward to hearing it. He almost craved hearing it. He knew that she did not speak often, and that she did so to him was one of the greatest honours he had ever held.

"When will you be arriving?"

She scribbled something down, bracing the book a hand that she untucked from his arm.

_After dinner. They never feed us enough there._

Xavier chuckled. "They like these parties but don't ever want to pay to keep the guests contented." He couldn't keep all the bitterness out of his voice.

Julie looked at him curiously. After a second of writing, she handed to him, _You don't like these parties?_

"Not particularly, no."

_Why do you go?_

Xavier hesitated. How much should he tell her? Looking into her clear and intelligent blue eyes, he felt as though he couldn't deny her anything. "I like being with you too," he said softly, mimicking her words.

Her eyes widened, and then softened with a smile, the corners of them crinkling slightly. She tucked her arm back into his firmly, and they continued back to his hotel.

…

Julie stepped into the room from the line up out the door. This crush was far too overwhelming, and she immediately regretted coming. Her hand tightened on her sketchbook and pencil and she took a deep breath, trying to control her flyaway thoughts. That's why she was here; she wanted to capture a couple moments of the parties.

"It's a little crowded in here, isn't it?" Lauren said in her ear, talking loudly over the noise of the people and the music.

Julie nodded. Then she saw a shining beacon in the sea of faces.

"Ladies," Xavier said, bowing politely. "How are you both this evening?"

"Parched," Lauren replied, "which will probably only be aggravated by this heat. Would you mind terribly if I got myself a glass of something, Jules?"

Julie shook her head.

Lauren smiled. "Excellent. Can I get you something? No? Alright. If you'll excuse me, highness."

"What would you like to do, Lady Juliette?" Xavier asked her, offering his good arm, noticing she was getting very annoyed with all the jostling.

She pointed to a couple of chairs in a small alcove, and then to her sketchbook.

Xavier nodded and escorted her over to the recently vacated seats and sat her down. She touched her fingers to her chin and dropped her hand, her face lit up by a relieved smile. Almost immediately, she flipped to a blank page and began to draw. Xavier settled himself beside her.

After a while, Xavier noticed that Juliette sometimes looked longingly at the dance floor, before returning to her sketches.

"I am sorry," he murmured softly.

Her head whipped around to him so fast, her hair flew out behind her in a sort of mock of the swirling skirts of the dancers. Her finger hit her palm in a sign that was becoming recognisable to him.

_What?_

"I'm sorry that I am holding you back from dancing. Please don't feel like you have to sit with me."

Her shock was a slight warmth in him. She frowned, and flipped to the last page of her book, scribbling something down frantically. He took the proffered book from her hand.

_Don't say that, my lord. You are the one putting up with me. I could leave if you would like._

"I am not just putting up with you," Xavier said, fiercer than he intended. "You are a delight to be with."

She blushed prettily, and closed her book with a snap. Holding her palm up to him, she stood from her chair. "W-halk?" she asked, smiling at him.

He was weak, he knew that. Faced with that smile, he couldn't deny her anything.

They stepped out into the garden, already populated by several other couples, trying to get out of the stifling place.

As they approached the wall by the edge of the garden, however, a rough voice sounded out the darkness.

"There she is. Grab 'er."

Two rough hands grabbed Julie while a blow to the jaw caused Xavier to stumble back.

"Let go of her," he snarled, his cane clattering to the stones as he grabbed one of Julie's arms and the arm of one of her captors. A vicious shove sent him sprawling again.

Cursing his lame leg, Xavier limped after the two men who were escorting a fiercely struggling Julie into a closed carriage. With a cry and a snap of a whip, the carriage started forward, leaving the two men behind, and carrying Julie off down the darkened street.

The other two men noticed him and rushed what they thought was an easy target.

How wrong they were. He didn't spend all that time in the army without learning how to fight hand to hand. Xavier punched the one man in the throat, effectively causing him to collapse. The other man drew his sword, but Xavier punched him in the stomach, and he dropped the sword to the cobblestones, and ran in the other direction.

Xavier took the man's sword from the ground, and was going to start the brutal hike after Julie, but a snort from a small alley drew his attention. He followed the sound and found two tethered horses.

"Hello there," he murmured softly, stroking the larger one's velvety nose.

"Now, how am I going to ride you?" he mused. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to mount the horse with a bum leg, but riding would definitely be faster than walking.

"I'll be savin' ye that decision," a voice growled, and before Xavier could turn and face his new opponent, there was a blow to his forehead, and a flash of bright light. He went swimming down into darkness.

…

Lauren stepped out of the party to get a breath of fresh air. Unlike the other houses, Lord and Lady Endall's townhouse had quite a small ballroom. People were packed along the sides to allow room for the dancing couples, so even getting off the dance floor, it was hard to catch one's breath.

It was a cool night, the moon winking in and out behind the slow moving clouds.

Lauren breathed deeply of the night air, wondering where Julie had gone to.

"Miss Lauren?"

Lauren turned, and even managed to past on a friendly smile at the approaching young man.

"Lord Stone," she greeted. "How are you this evening?"

"I'm doing very well, Miss Lauren," he responded. "I came to see if anything was wrong."

"Of course not," she replied, touched that he cared. "I was merely feeling a bit overwhelmed in the crush."

"I am glad to hear it. I have brought you your wrap."

He whipped a shawl from his left arm in a showy manner, and wrapped it around her shoulders, his hands lingering on her far longer than she wanted. Her smile became slightly more forced.

"I thought you might have been cold," he explained.

"Thank you, my lord." she replied politely.

"My lady," Stone said suddenly, "please don't think me too forward, but I would like to think that we are something of friends. Would it be to much to ask for you to call me David?"

"Of course not, David," Lauren said kindly. "And I would be honoured to call you my friend."

"I am glad to hear it," Stone said. He swallowed convulsively. "This is very hard to say, so I think I will just come out and say it." He took her hand again. "I have been thinking about my life recently," he began, "and have found it oddly lacking. I think this is due to the fact that I need to settle down, start a family."

He turned to her, and Lauren was instantly suspicious of his motives.

"I have been waiting for the perfect woman," he continued, "and I finally think I've found her. I know now that I will never love another-"

"David," Lauren interrupted firmly, "please do not finish that sentence. It will not end how you would like it, and I would hate for there to be any awkwardness between us."

"But my fondest wish is for you to become my wife!" Stone cried.

"I am sorry, David, but I really have no interest in marriage."

The young lord's face brightened at that a little. "Then there isn't anyone else?"

A pair of laughing black eyes and an arrogant smile flashed in Lauren's mind, but she pushed them away impatiently. It was merely an infatuation. She would get over it. "That is not entirely an appropriate question, but no. There is no one else."

"Then I can still convince you that you can marry me," he said.

Lauren shook her head. "The only marriage that I would be interested in is one where both hearts are committed."

"You have my heart, my lady. I can only hope that I could win yours."

Patting Stone's hand, Lauren smiled kindly. "Please believe me when I say that it will never be. Can we not just be friends? Is that not worth something?"

"More than the world, Miss Lauren," Stone replied, "but, I still wish it could be something more." He looked about to burst into another declaration of his intentions when another voice interrupted him.

"Lord Stone," Captain Brimfield said, coming out of the shadows, "and Miss Lauren, how delightful to see you both out here. Stone, Lady Endall making up a cribbage table and needs a fourth player."

"And you were unable to accommodate her?" There was open antagonism in the question.

"Heavens, no," Brimfield laughed. "Cribbage is not my game."

"And what exactly is your game?" Both men were standing like guards dogs over a piece of meat. It was starting to annoy Lauren to the extreme.

"I prefer games such as poker," he replied, a bit of a glint in his eye, "where luck favours the bold."

It was not the most tactful of replies, and Lauren sought to interrupt the men before they came to blows.

"David, would you be so kind as to tell my cousin that I am looking for her should you see her on your way to the tables?" She accompanied the question with a sweet smile.

"Of course. I'm happy to be of service." As he bowed, Lauren neglected to point out that he sounded anything but happy.

"Hah. Foolish pup. I hope he did not annoy you." Brimfield looked at Lauren with an amused glance as Stone walked away, his back ramrod straight.

"Of course not," Lauren said. "He merely brought out my wrap for me."

"How thoughtful of him," Brimfield said, in a tone that infuriated Lauren.

"Captain Brimfield. Lord Stone did not annoy me, but you will if you continue to speak in that tone of voice," she told him.

"I apologise. If you must, you can ascribe my words to my raging jealousy."

"Captain?" she asked, utterly confused. The words sounded teasing, but the look he gave her was anything but.

"A young man like that couldn't possibly take you at your true worth. Only someone of my standing would be able to be the husband for you."

"Oh, Lord!" Lauren groaned. She wanted to walk away quickly, but Brimfield's fingers had dug themselves into the fringe of her shawl.

"Excuse me, but this garment seems to have become tangled." A dark arm reached out and shook her wrap free from Brimfield's fingers. Lauren didn't think it was possible, but she was actually relieved to see Zander standing there.

"I am charged with a message from your cousin, Miss Lauren," he said. "You will excuse us, Brimfield."

"Of course. I shall see you some other time then, Miss Lauren? Your highness." If Brimfield had been angry at being thwarted, it didn't show one whit on his face.

Lauren looked suspiciously at Zander. He seemed to have popped out of the bushes. She wondered how much he had overheard.

He didn't leave her long in doubt.

"Shall we take a stroll, Lauren?" he asked, offering a dark arm to her. "I shall promise not to propose marriage. Three offers in one evening is outside of enough."

"You heard?" Lauren gaped, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Why did you not show yourself? But I guess it would be like you to lurk in the shrubbery."

"Hardly the deed of a gentleman, is it?" he said, and she saw a flash of white as he grinned at her. "This time, however, I have an excuse. I had absolutely no time to declare myself. The offers came so thick and fast…"

Lauren felt his shoulders shaking and realised that he was laughing at her. Her chin snapped forward, head held high.

"Plus, either of them would have called me out and I'm not that good at duelling."

Lauren's lips twitched, her anger dissipating as she tried not to dissolve into giggles. "Really, Zander," she scolded.

"Truth," he said, holding his other hand up. "Will you not walk with me? I am just thinking of the safety of the other guests. I don't want anymore hearts laid at your feet."

"I didn't do a single thing to encourage either of those men," she retorted.

"Of course, but that doesn't mean that someone else won't take your lack of encouragement as encouragement." His eyes sparkled with tiny gold flecks as he looked at her.

Lauren shook her head. "I must go find my cousin. Didn't you say that Julie wanted me?"

"A small fib, my dear," Zander said, completely unrepentant. "Last time I saw your cousin, she was sitting in the corner with my brother, writing in some book."

"That would be her sketchbook," Lauren said. "I'm wondering if she's doing okay. I should really go check on her."

"Running away, Lauren?" he mocked softly.

She whirled on him. "Of course not! It's just… well, I've now been seen in the garden with three single men, two of which have proposed marriage. I just don't want any harm to come to Jules' reputation because of me."

"I don't know if I would risk it Lauren," Zander said, gazing up at the sky. "I think it's a full moon tonight. Who knows what further surprises the evening will bring? Your next discarded suitor is likely to fall on his sword."

Lauren snorted, trying to hold back laughter. "I don't think so," she managed to get out.

"Oh, I'm sure of it. Just think of the scandal," he grinned wickedly, "and Lady's Endall's dismay of having blood on her carpets."

Lauren couldn't hold it in any longer and her peals of laughter echoed through the garden.

"You are truly impossible," she said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

"One tries one's best," he said.

Lauren rolled her eyes, enjoying Zander's company in spite of herself. "If one's best is- what is that?" Her eyes flew to a cluttered bunch of papers lying forlorn by a swinging gate in the side wall. She hurried over and picked them up.

"This is Julie's sketchbook!" she exclaimed, her eyes meeting Zander's in fear and worry. "She would never leave this anywhere."

Zander bent and picked something out of a bush. It was a dark cane.

"It's Xavier's," he confirmed grimly, his eyes no longer teasing, but so black that they rivalled the space between the stars.

"I think something's happened to them," Lauren whispered.

"I think you're right." A trick of the light threw his face half into shadow, and the determination there made his face harder, older. He abruptly turned and started walking very quickly.

"Where are you going?" Lauren scurried after Zander when he strided out the open gate.

"To find them."


	7. Prison

Hey guys. I'm sorry I didn't get this up last night as promised, but my moniter on the big computer upstairs is on the fritz and I had to transfer this chapter down here to the little computer, and by that time I was like, 'Screw this!' cause I was really really _really_ tired. Anywho, here it is.

**monkeys-and-bananas76:** Yeah. It does suck. I've stopped lisping with my braces now. And to answer your question, Fiona and Jarrod will be back, just later on. They help Julie with something.

**trillian225:** I'm glad I'm doing both stories as well. At first, I had only planned to really have Julie and Xavier's story, but I fell in love with Zander and had to give him a woman, and thus, cousin Lauren was born!

**Charlie Hazel:** I read too many Nancy Drews as a child. They leave me with this instinct to end the chapters on cliffhangers. Bad, I know, but hopefully it keeps everyone coming back.

**Tiger Lily21:** You are on a fast track to super excellent writing skills, Anne. You already have every one of the basics down pat, and your stories mesh so well. It would be nice if you finished one, but some people just don't, and the ideas that you come up with are so original, that it's almost nice that you share them with us pretty immediately. Keep up the good work.

**HolmesismyHomie:** Okay. Then. Here. It. Is.

**Kat Laleh:** Thank you for the awesome review. Yeah, I know what you mean. I wasn't super thrilled with that chapter either. I realised it was kinda boring, but I needed to bring Fiona and Jarrod back in so that when they appear in a later chapter, it isn't kinda like, 'pop! We're here!' type thing. Thank you for that good point about the POV in the abduction scene. I'm going to try and incorporate more though processes of my characters, I hope. Just, tell me if I stop it again.

**awaiting impatient person:** I think we all have a little bit of perverted old man in us. I really hope you enjoy this chapter (wink wink). Zander has many sides. He's like a D&D dice, man.

**Glitterpoison:** It's true! Put me in rehab, I can't take it anymore! Too much cliffhangerage! Arg!

**Twist130:** Thanks!

**cokefizz-and-chocolate:** Don't worry about the non-reviewingness. And update your story! I want to see what happens next!

**Wild Pixie Child:** Thank you! Wow, a favourite's list! I'm really really honoured!

**mistyqueen:** You know what? You were one of my first reviewers ever, way back with Beau and the Witch. Thank you very much.

**stargate rules:** Thank you very much.

So, here's my after the reviews blurb. Disclaimer: This story is rated T for a reason. You all seem like really mature people, so this point is probably moot, but still, there is some kissage, and some swearage in this story. YOU BE WARNED!

-Lulai

Chapter Seven: Prison

Julie grunted, trying to force the window open for the third time. Her jaw stuck out stubbornly, her breathing caught in her throat as she pushed with all her might, until she saw stars in front of her eyes. She let go of the window at the same time as she let out her breath. She was breathing hard with her exertion, but the dirty window of the cramped, damp little cellar remained stuck fast.

_Be that way then,_ she snarled silently at the window. She was irrationally angry, but she knew that it was because if she let down her rage for a second, the fear would take over and she wouldn't be able to function properly.

The window laughed cruelly at her, and she felt like putting a fist through it, but she knew that all that would merit would be a few bruised knuckles. She choked down the sob that threatened to escape and looked about her dingy prison.

There were a couple torches on the walls, making shadows flicker menacingly, and casting everything in a dim light, but not enough to see out the little window of where she was. A small raised pallet with several thick grey wool blankets sat over by the wall. There was no other furniture in the room. The doorway to the outside was up a couple stairs, but from her rattling of it, it evidently had a bar across, as well as two guards who merely told her to save her strength. A push with all her girth didn't so much as budge the thing.

There was a small plate of food and a pitcher of water in the corner, but Julie hadn't touched either. For all she knew they could be drugged. In fact, they probably were drugged. And although she didn't know what the men wanted her for, she wasn't about to be incapacitated for it. She was her brother's sister. She would fight tooth and nail.

She rubbed her bare hands together, hoping that the scant cloud covering would keep the air warm for a little while. One of her gloves had been carefully stuffed out a crack between the door and the rest of the carriage in case someone was following her. The other she had discreetly dropped right outside the carriage as they wrestled her into the cellar.

It couldn't be denied that she secretly hoped for a certain someone to save her. It was like a vision in her head; Xavier riding down to rescue her, sweeping her into his arms, and…

Her cheeks went bright red, and she pushed her palms against them. There was no use relying on false hope. She would probably have to use her own wits to get out of this one. Perhaps when they came down to change her food and water…

So caught up in her planning that when there was a loud scraping sound, it took Julie a second to figure out what it was. It struck her suddenly. The bar was being raised from the door! The shutters lifted from their resting spots, and Julie ran towards the spot of night sky she could see.

There was a grunt, and a thump, and a body landed at her feet. The doors were shut just as she reached them, and a bang with her fist was returned with a louder bang as the bar was put back in place. Gritting her teeth in anger, she marched back down the three steps to see who it was they had dumped so unceremoniously in with her. What she saw nearly stopped her heart.

It was Xavier. With a low cry, she knelt down and examined him, pressing her fingers against his throat. She breathed a great sigh of relief when she felt his heart beating steady and strong. A nasty purple bruise was forming over his right eyebrow, and his left jaw looked slightly swollen, but other than that, he appeared to only be unconscious.

"An-mals!" she yelled angrily at whoever was guarding the other side of the door. "L-how, f-hil-thy swine! Ah hope yhou ahll d-hie sl-how ahnd p-hain-ful!"

Her throat burned so bad that the last word was choked off. She shook her head and frowned angrily to keep the tears out of her eyes, and grabbed Xavier by the armpits, dragging him backwards towards the thin straw pallet that lay in the corner of the room. It was difficult work. Even though she was as tall as he was, he was still bigger, not to mention as limp as an old sock, and she didn't really want to hurt him too much more.

She dropped his upper half on the pallet with a strangled grunt, and moved to lift his legs. Satisfied that he was fully on the straw mat, she grabbed the pitcher of water, and tore a long strip of fabric from her gown, bemoaning its fate for only a second. It wasn't her favourite gown. Although she looked good in green, the deep emerald made her look exceptionally pale. If it wasn't such a flattering cut, she might have given it away.

Sitting on the bed with his head in her lap, she dipped the rag in the water and began to mop Xavier's brow. What a mess she had made of things. This whole predicament was her fault. She was the one who had suggested they go for a walk then wasn't strong enough to break away from her kidnappers. He had probably come after her, only to receive a purple bruise on his forehead and to be locked in this smelly damp place with her. She glared menacingly through the door to the cellar as if she could burn holes through it to the men beyond. Her brother would make this right, she knew he would. She threw the rag back into the pitcher.

A cough drew her gaze back down to her patient. He looked terribly uncomfortable. She nimbly untied his cravat and undid the first few buttons on his white shirt so he could breathe easier. Although she was worried for her friend, he did look rather cute while asleep. A small grin crossed her lips despite her situation. She didn't think Xavier would be one to be complemented by being called cute.

"Eck-zayv-her," she practised in a whisper, running her fingers through his black hair. It was thick and felt like cool soft silk sliding through her fingers. She tried again. "Eck-zayyyv-her." It didn't sound any more feminine than the first time.

"Juliette," he murmured, his lips barely moving, making her jump. He turned his head towards her hand. Capturing her fingers in his warm ones, he pressed a kiss to her palm. "I've been waiting for you."

He flipped over and slid up so that she was forced to lie on her back, with his warm weight pressed intimately against her. It was slightly alarming how fast he had positioned her on the bed. Her arms were trapped between his chest and hers, her elbows wedged together, her hands curling into fists. The light didn't help much, throwing much of his face into shadow, revealing only the barest hint of his features.

He didn't give her long to look, though. His lips slid up her neck to her jaw, eliciting a gasp from her. His hand slid up her hip, nestling in her waist, causing all sorts of wicked curls of longing to whip through her body.

"Juliette," he said, his voice making her shiver. He captured her mouth with his, and she unconsciously arched into him, moaning. The pressure of his lips and his other hand on her jaw made her open her mouth and his tongue swept in, learning the taste of her, and filling her with the taste of him.

Her fingers uncurled and pressed against his hard frame. Breaking the kiss by planting small pecks on the corners of her mouth, his hand started tugging on the sleeve of her gown.

"Why are you still clothed?" he murmured, almost to himself. He kissed her chin, and she shivered again, her body alternating between being tight with want and liquid with heat. Her skirts rustled as he slid his hand down her thigh. Julie was sure she could feel his hand as if it was next to her bare skin, fully clothed aside. Her fingers curled in his white shirt.

She also wondered why her clothes were still there. She was sure they would have burst into flame by now; her entire body was about to spontaneously combust. Her fingers slid up his firm chest, and played lightly with the small tuft of hair that had escaped through the 'v' of his shirt as Xavier nipped at her lower lip.

"For that matter, why am I still clothed? It's silly," he laughed huskily.

Julie laughed as well, partly because it did seem silly, and partly from sheer nervousness about what was happening. She didn't really believe that he was about to make her his mistress under such daunting circumstances, but she couldn't quite stop the small part in her mind that kept telling her to let it play out.

But at her husky chuckle, Xavier froze, except to lift his head. His eyes seemed to widen and focus, first on their surroundings, then on the woman beneath him.

Xavier felt as if he were being dragged up from a dream. Indeed, this was a dream wasn't it? Just like the dream he had every night, except that they weren't on his bed, and she was fully clothed. Her hair was a tangled blonde mess around her head, and her lips were pleasantly swollen, but there was a different look in her eyes, a more innocent look.

"Juliette?" he asked, his voice sounding strange even to him.

"Ess?" she replied softly, her nervous laughter fading. A look of horror came into his eyes.

"Oh my god!" Xavier scrambled off of her as if she were plagued. Her body instantly felt cold with the loss of contact with his. She sat up slowly, not quite sure what had happened. He couldn't even look at her as he paced slightly with his characteristic limp. She could hear him swearing at himself quite soundly, but she wasn't really offended. Mostly, she was truly, truly confused. Had she done something wrong? A horrible thought struck her. Did he think that she was too loose because he was the one who stopped, not her?

"Eck-zayv-her?" she asked, wanting desperately to know what was wrong. The familiar tightness began to form behind her eyes, but she ignored it, determined not to cry.

"My god, Juliette," he said, raking an impatient hand through his hair. "I'm… It's just… God, I can't even begin to apologise. I didn't mean to take it that far. I know that you probably can't ever forgive me, but let me assure you that I am truly deeply sorry."

"Ah unner-stan, Eck-zayv-her," she murmured. There was a squeak as she rose from the bed, but Xavier turned his back to her.

"No, you don't," he said bitterly. "You can't. You see, I've been having these dreams- Shit, I can't even tell you without insulting you." He laughed, but there was no humour in it. It ended on a cough. "Some hero I turned out to be. I try to rescue you, but not only do I get captured, but I attack you in the vilest manner possible. You probably want to see me drawn and quartered." He pushed two of his fingers in between his dark eyebrows. His head was pounding something fierce and his lungs ached horribly.

Something cool and wet pressed against his forehead, and he turned slightly, his hand unconsciously drifting to the cloth held against his brow. His fingers grazed lightly over hers, before she relinquished the cloth to him and took a step back. He held her gaze for a mere second, then she dropped her face, her cheeks stained red.

"Iht's oh-kay," she murmured again. "Ah fhor-give yhou."

"Why?" he asked bluntly. At her slightly confused look, he elaborated. "Why do you keep on forgiving me, even when I do the unforgivable?"

She sat on the bed, her teeth grazing on her middle finger's unfortunate nail. "Yhou are mah fer-hend," she stated simply. Her chin dropped, and all he could see was the golden top of her messy hair. "Ah have so f-hew," she whispered, so softly he almost missed it.

"Don't let your friendships blind you to others' faults," he said softly, his chest doing strange things seeing her in pain. Dropping the wet cloth on the tray of food, he knelt down beside her, ignoring the screaming pain in his leg, and took her nail bitten hand in his larger one. "What I did was unthinkable, yet, I thank you for your forgiveness."

"N-hot yhour f-hault," she whispered, her voice so hoarse he could barely hear her. She lifted her face to him, and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of a single tear tracking its way down her face, its shine flickering in the torchlight.

"What?" he asked.

"N-hot yhour f-hault," she repeated. "Mah f-hault. Yhou-" she made a motion towards his head, "-hurt. Ver-rey con-f-hused. Ah," she choked a little on her words, sniffing, "Ah d-hidn't st-hop yhou. Mah f-hault." At this admission, the tears that she had tried so vainly to keep at bay since she was first abducted overflowed her eyes and spilled out onto her cheeks.

Her words rendered him speechless. She was taking the full responsibility of his actions on her shoulders, thinking herself the one in the wrong. He climbed up onto the cot and pulled her into his arms, rocking her back and forth as he would a small child, his one hand nestled in her thick golden hair, the other at her back.

"It's not your fault," he murmured in her ear as she began to give great heaving sobs, her fingers curling in his shirt. "I'm so sorry. Don't think that you're the one to blame in all this. You're not."

"Ah'm s-ho sc-hared, Eck-zayv-her," she managed to get out between sobs.

"Yes, I know," he mentally cursed himself again for bringing this on her, "but I promise, I'll find a way to make it right."

Sniffing hugely, she nodded into his chest, her fingers refusing to let go of her one comfort.

…

"And what exactly are you planning to do?" Lauren called out, hiking up her skirts as she chased after Zander.

"I already told you," he said, his voice dark, "I'm going to find them."

Lauren rolled his eyes at his attitude. "I _know_ that," she said, finally managing to reach his side. "You have very long legs, you know that? What I meant was, _how_ are you going to go about finding them?"

"It's not your concern," Zander stated, his voice as cool and smooth as stone. They turned down an alleyway. "You should return to the party."

"Like hell I am!" she snapped, happy that her language seemed to shock him enough to turn his head and raise an eyebrow at her. "In case you've forgotten, it's _my_ cousin out there."

"I'm sure that my brother is taking sufficient care of her." He paused to pick up a small button off the cobblestones. "You needn't worry."

"You can say that all you like, but the fact is that I'm worrying," Lauren told him. "What's that?"

"It's a button from my brother's coat," he replied. "And it looks as though there were also two horses here." He straightened to his full height and turned to face Lauren. She refused to be intimidated by him, and lifted her chin, her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"I would appreciate it if you would return to the party, Lauren," he said softly, his voice compelling. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Let me tell you something, Prince I'm-So-Tough," Lauren retorted, poking his extremely immovable chest, "I can take care of myself. Plus, I'm not the type of woman to sit and twiddle her thumbs while Jules is in danger, so you can just knock off the caveman attitude and let me come along with you."

To her amazement, a hint of a smile played on his lips, putting a chink in the stone face he had. "I imagine that with the moon tonight, the men might just fall at your feet, proposing marriage, giving me time to slip in and rescue your cousin," he said, his teasing manner almost a relief to Lauren.

"Hmph," she said, pushing back the mass of brown hair that had somehow escaped the pins she put it in. "I do look ravishing in the moonlight, don't I?" she said, making a silly pose. She was glad that Zander was back to his teasing self. She could work with teasing. It was that cold determined side of him that frightened her a little.

Zander chuckled. "True. Alright, from what I can see, your cousin and my brother were pushed into some sort of carriage that went either towards the castle or out towards the city. My bet is on the city."

Lauren nodded, his reasoning sound. "How do you know that they're in a carriage?" she asked.

"Well, from the tracks in that puddle of mud, I'd say that a carriage whipped out of here within the last few hours, and I think that is probably too big of a coincidence for them _not_ to be in it," Zander explained.

They walked together down towards the slightly grungier part of Drewery, until Lauren saw a sodden lump of dark green cloth lying forlornly in the street in front of a large pub. She ran over to it and picked it up gingerly by one of the corners. It was a glove with two of the fingers frayed at the tips.

"This is Jules'!" she exclaimed. "I'd know it anywhere."

Zander nodded. "You wait here while I ask in this pub if anyone saw anyone. We might have more luck if we know exactly who was driving the carriage." He entered the smoky tavern before giving her a chance to respond.

"You wait here," Lauren mocked, "while I go off and act all he-mannish, blah blah blah." Despite her protests, she did stay where she was. At least until she saw a slight shadow in the doorway. She realised that it was a young woman, no older than she was, dressed quite provocatively. Ignoring the proprieties, she walked over to the prostitute.

"Hello," she greeted the woman cheerily.

The woman, who looked to be about eighteen gave Lauren a thorough look down, her eyes tired and hard.

"Just ye then, or ye gonna invite yer man, provided he can drag 'imself away from the booze?" she asked, her voice just as jaded as her eyes.

"Actually, I'm interested in a different sort of service from you," Lauren said, not at all embarrassed. "Did you by any chance see a carriage go by here?"

"I see a lot o' carriages," the girl said, a calculating look in her eye. "I mightna be able ta remember a single one without help."

Lauren frowned, and dug around in the small change purse she kept in the top of her dress. "Would fourteen silvers be enough to change your mind? I think that's all I have on me right now."

"That'll do," she said, her dirty palm held open. Lauren deposited the coins in it.

"There was a carriage," the woman said, "that raced through here a couple hours ago. Driven by Winters, I'd swear on me mama's grave, but I didna think that he was here. He spends most o' his time on tha coast."

"Where did it go?" Lauren asked eagerly.

"Prolly ta the li'l shack that he haunts over in the Green district. 'Siren's Brew,' or somethin' like that." The prostitute rolled her eyes. "Scummy place, an' that's comin' from me."

"Thank you," Lauren said. "If you don't mind me asking, what got you into this business?"

"The sex is good," the prostitute sneered. Then, seeing that Lauren wasn't cutting at her, her expression softened a little. "I'm tryin' ta keep me younger sister out of it. Maybe even get her enough money to get her a respectable job in the castle, or somethin'."

"I wish you lots of luck," Lauren said, grasping the woman's hand, not caring about the filth.

"Thank ye," the woman replied.

Lauren walked back over to where she had been ordered to wait, looking innocently at her nails as Zander stalked out of the tavern, a dark look on his face.

"Places like these are a disease on Drewery," he said, his voice tight. "I didn't find a single thing."

"I did," Lauren replied. "Apparently, a carriage being driven by a man named Winters drove past, heading towards 'The Siren's Brew'."

Zander raised his eyebrows, apparently impressed. "I know where that is."

"Good," Lauren nodded.

It took them almost an hour to walk there, and Zander refused to hire a hackney or any sort of transportation.

"But why do we have to _walk_?" Lauren complained. Her feet were very sore, and her dress was dirty, and she was _tired_, and why the heck did she have to _walk_? She had no problems revealing those facts to Zander, and had, repeatedly in the last while.

"Because it's easier to sneak up on someone on our own two feet," he said, slipping into the shadows. "Now shh. The tavern's right up ahead."

Lauren obediently fell silent, making a face at his back. She sure hoped the woman's information was correct. If Julie wasn't here…

"Zander!" she hissed, pointing, "look! I think there's a cellar over there."

"I think you're right, and look there beside that carriage."

Lauren gasped. "It's Julie's other glove! Oh, they're down there all right." She started to walk towards where the two big men, but Zander grabbed her arm and tugged her back behind the shadow of the building.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he growled angrily.

"Saving my cousin," she whispered back emphatically. "Now, I'll distract them while you take that whatever-that-is and knock them out."

Without waiting for his approval or disapproval, she sauntered out into night, pushing back the mass of brown hair that was sticking to her face.

"Oopsie," she said, smiling idiotically, "I musta taken a wrong turn. Could ye gentl'men point me in the right direction ta the bar?" She walked between them, brushing one's shoulder, before turning around. Both men faced her, their backs to Zander.

Using the lid to a beer barrel, Zander did just what Lauren asked, and before the men could even shout, they were being loaded unconscious into the carriage.

"Ugh, this brute is heavy," Lauren grunted, holding the man's feet as she shoved. "Now let's see what they're hiding in that cellar."

"Agreed."

They both lifted the bar from the shutter doors and peeled them back. Zander walked down first, and had to duck to avoid being struck by a platter.

Xavier's eyes widened, and the tray dropped to his side.

"Zander?"

"Yup," he said with a grin, "I'm here to save-"

"Juliette, no!"

Zander half turned just in time to see a look of shock on Julie's face before a pitcher crashed into his skull. He fell into a crouch, both of his hands on his injured head.

"Ow!"

"Julie!"

Lauren was right on Zander's heels, and ran to embrace her cousin. "I've been sick with worry about you."

Julie smiled and returned the hug, before pulling back and waving her hands about in several complicated gestures. Lauren turned to Zander.

"She says you can call it even now," she said, a hint of a smile on her face.

"Good," Zander grunted, rising. "I don't think I could take anymore apologizing."

"How did you find us?" Xavier asked, and coughed.

Zander shot him a worried glance before quickly relaying the story.

After he was done, Julie shivered and looked at Lauren, signing a few more things to her.

Lauren smiled. "Jules says while this is all well and good, perhaps we could find some place warmer to discuss all this."

"I concur wholeheartedly," Xavier agreed, before succumbing to another coughing fit that took up the span of several seconds.

Zander walked over to his twin, putting a hand on his shoulder worriedly. Xavier held up a finger to indicate that he only needed a second, and took a deep breath of air. Julie also looked on with a very worried expression.

"There," he said, "I'm fine now. Let's go home."

As Xavier and Julie walked up the stairs, Zander turned to Lauren, and took her hand, brushing his lips against hers lightly. Despite her internal commands, she swayed towards him.

"Thank you," he said seriously, "for saving my brother."

And suddenly, Lauren realised that with those few words, Zander had seduced her better than anything else he had done. What was she going to do now?


	8. Home

I'm really sorry, but this is an awful chapter. My week has been killer, and I didn't have time to write anything good. And, I feel so bad because you guys gave me 100 reviews. But, I found an essay that I did a couple of years ago, so I fixed up most of the spelling and grammatical errors and am posting it as a bonus. Yay! I also have great things planned for the next chapter, if I can find time to write it.

These reviews are going to be short. Because.

**Tiger Lily21:** Sometimes, it's really hard. I mean, _really_ hard. I have to force myself to write, even though a dozen other stories want to take presidence in my brain. Thanks.

**HolmesismyHomie:** ((looks at you strange))

**cokefizz-and-chocolate:** thanks.

**panemonium:** Good job on your test!

**Areida Rivers:** Thank you. I love Zander. And Lauren doesn't mind him either. I know their relationship is quick, but sometimes people just click, and that's them. I haven't officially taken any classes, but I've read so many books that I know what I like and what I don't. My writing style is sort of a mish-mash of all my favourite authors.

**Twist130:** She thought he was one of her kidnappers and didn't stop in time after Xavier warned her.

**Charlie Hazel:** Yes, yes it will.

**Phillipa of the Phoenix:** Haha, I loved your first line. Duh is right. No, Julie's voice won't ever really get better. Remember, it's not just the way she talks, but that her voice sounds like a man who smokes five packs a day.

**Akwyn:** haha, me too.

**monkey-and-bananas76:** Thanks.

**Drew:** Yeah. There's a whole other part I haven't even got too.

**cinnimon:** Although that's bad for the reader, it's pretty refreshing for the writer to start a new story.

Enjoy the bonus!

-Lulai

Chapter Eight: Home

"You know that the entire party is going to wonder where we four wandered off to," Lauren warned in a whisper, motioning for the brothers who were sitting on further along the carriage seat to lean towards her so they could hear her. After throwing the still unconscious men into the cellar that Julie and Xavier had previously occupied, then helped themselves to a phaeton they also found beside the bar. Jules had fallen asleep on Lauren's shoulder almost as soon as they started moving, and Lauren didn't have the heart to keep her up. Lauren herself was squished between the sleeping Julie, and Zander who was driving the team. His leg was pressed quite firmly against hers, and she secretly enjoyed the warmth of his muscles.

"I'll lie through my teeth," Zander assured her in a whisper. He grinned. "I'm good at that."

"It's true," Xavier agreed, his hands resting on top of his recently re-acquired cane. Lauren had thought that Zander had dropped it somewhere, but apparently he had just hidden it behind the wall which they were hiding. She herself had given Jules' sketchbook back to her which she had hidden down the front of her bodice, and Julie had taken it back with tears in her eyes. Even now, while sleeping, she clutched the book in her lap.

Xavier coughed discreetly into his hand, turning his head slightly into the wall of the rickety little carriage. Zander gave him a worried glance, and it heartened Lauren to see the more loving side of Zander. It had thrown her for quite a loop when she found out that she was coming to care for him, but now that she had had time to think it through, the idea actually appealed to her. She now realized that she had thought him the villain merely from Jules' interpretation of him. Now, she couldn't deny that she liked his company.

In fact, she wouldn't deny that she wanted _him_. And, if she was anything, she was rather tenacious. Lauren Fer Grey usually got what she wanted.

There was the slight problem that he was a prince of the realm. A crown prince, to be exact.

A small frown pursed Lauren's lips. That shouldn't matter that much. Sure, she wasn't an exotic princess from a foreign land, or even a dukes' sister, like Julie, but she wasn't completely hopeless. She wasn't _common_. She gave an internal nod of satisfaction. A Lady was a perfectly acceptable match for a prince.

"What are you think about?" Zander asked her, surprising her out of her musings. He flicked the reins almost carelessly, but the horses responded immediately, and turned towards their hotel.

"Oh," Lauren stalled, not ready to admit what she really was thinking about, "I was just wondering why you didn't take the throne after your father died. I mean, isn't that customary?"

Zander shrugged. "Mother says that in order to take the title, I have to marry."

"So, you're not marrying because you don't want the crown?" Lauren asked sympathetically.

Zander gave a slight chuckle. "I'm not taking the crown because I don't want to marry," he said, and any sympathy that Lauren had for him shrivelled up.

"And why wouldn't you want to marry?" she asked, remembering after the first couple words that she was trying not to wake up Julie.

"I'd rather not have an emotional anchor holding me back," Zander said.

"Not every woman is an emotional anchor," Lauren protested. "Just because we know _how_ to be emotional doesn't mean we're obsessed about it."

"Of course," he said in a voice which made it clear that he didn't believe her one bit. "I'd just like a woman who had some semblance of a brain in her head, one I can have a decent conversation with."

Lauren barely refrained from throwing up her hands in disgust. "Then why do you chase the empty headed ones?" she hissed. "There are a great many intelligent females out there… like me for instance."

Zander gave her an amused look and she seethed in indignation. "Rest assured, that if I had to be leg shackled, there would be no one I'd rather be chained to than you."

This time Lauren did not resist temptation, and rolled her eyes grandly. "What a charming sentiment, my lord," she said acidly. "I think I shall have it etched on my tombstone. 'Here lies Lauren Fer Grey, the only woman Zander Fer Drewery could think about marrying without breaking into a terrified sweat.'"

Xavier made a choking noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter, but Lauren shot him such a murderous glare that he turned it into a cough, which in turn set off a reaction of several coughs.

Zander put a martyred look on his face. "You wound me ma'am. I am simply not the marrying type, that is all."

Lauren ignored the lump in her throat. Why, oh why did she have the bad sense to fall for a man who didn't believe in marriage? She had set herself up for certain heartbreak.

Lauren steeled her backbone. Lauren Fer Grey was not a weak woman, neither was she stupid. Zander was marrying material, she was sure of it. She would just have to prove to him how nice marriage would be.

How she was going to go about that was another matter, one that considered stipulation. A glimmer of an idea started in the back of her mind, and she couldn't help the slow grin that stretched across her features.

"May I share in your secret?" Zander asked, shocking her into looking at him with wide blue eyes.

"Of course, Zander," she said, "although it isn't anything terribly exciting. I was merely happy to be getting home."

She was sure she saw a flicker of disappointment in his eyes before he sat back with a slight smile. "We're almost there."

"Jules," she said to her cousin, wiggling her shoulder to wake her, "we're home now."

Julie sat up slowly, peering at her bleary eyed as she always did after sleeping, and then nodded. Lauren helped her out of the coach, holding her skirt in one hand and Julie's hand in the other. Julie nearly tripped coming down, but managed to gain her balance and not drop her sketchbook as Lauren rushed to catch her.

Giving a sleepy smile, and a tired wave to the brothers, Julie touched the crook of her finger to her left collarbone and her right hip, then made a zigzag motion in the air.

"Good night, your highnesses," Lauren said.

"Good night, my ladies," Zander answered for Xavier and himself.

Lauren helped Julie stumble up the stairs, and wondered why on earth her cousin had such a hard time waking up.

"Lauren, Julie!" her mother exclaimed as they walked into the common room where she had been up cross-stitching. "You're filthy! And Julie's dressed is ripped! What on earth have you two been up to?"

Lauren looked at Julie to see that she did indeed have a long strip ripped off the hem of her gown. She looked at Julie with raised eyebrows. Julie shrugged.

"I'm afraid Julie's dress got stepped on while dancing," Lauren lied, turning back to her mother. "We went out into the garden to find a patch of light to fix it, and ended up getting a little dirty, so the princes offered to give us a ride home."

"That was very chivalrous of them," Lady Grey said doubtfully.

For not the first time, her mother's tone annoyed Lauren. "Jules and I must be getting off to bed," she declared. "We are dreadfully exhausted. We shall see you in the morning, mama."

Her mother nodded and the girls went into their separate rooms.

…

"Xavier, are you all right?" Victoria asked her brother as the twins entered their home.

"Of course," he said. "Why wouldn't I be?" The question turned into a series of hacking coughs that left his lungs burning.

"I knew it!" Wynne exclaimed, rushing forward to support her brother. "You went out too soon after you were ill, and now you've caught an inflammation of the lungs."

"I'm _fine_, Wynne," he half-snarled. "It's just a little cough."

"No words for me?" Zander asked, laying a hand over his heart. "No questions of my health or well being?"

Vicky rolled her eyes. "That's because no one would care if you passed on, annoying brother," she teased.

"Is that so?" he asked, and caught up with his sister, tickling her mercilessly.

"Stop! Stop!" she cried out between gasping breaths and laughter, trying unsuccessfully to squirm away from her brother. "I'm eighteen now! I'm too old to be tickled."

"Say you're sorry," he persisted.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she laughed. Zander let up on her, and she stood up from her semi-crouched position, smiling and breathing hard. She threw herself into Zander's arms. "I would miss you if you went away."

Xavier and Wynne watched the exchange with amused faces.

"So?" Wynne asked her brother quietly. "Where were you?"

"A young lady was taken," Xavier explained, "and I followed the kidnappers, but ended up being held captive as well. Zander and the woman's cousin ended up rescuing us."

Wynne's dark eyes were wide. "You were kidnapped? By whom?"

"We don't know," Zander interjected, a serious look on his face, "but I'm going to find out tomorrow."

"You mean _we're_ going to find out tomorrow," Xavier said, giving his brother a look.

"_You're_ not going anywhere," Wynne commanded her brother, "except maybe to your bed to get a good night sleep."

Xavier sighed the sigh of a man repressed. "I'll go to bed now, but tomorrow will be another matter."

* * *

Essay topic: 'Unthinking words can cause dire consequences.'

Prince Garret stomped angrily through the trees, swinging his sword wildly, taking out his anger on the defenseless foliage.

"Curse you," he snarled, hoping that wherever his brother was, he would somehow hear his words and perhaps his head would explode, or he would be plagued with a case of warts on his rear.

"Confounded trees," he growled, pulling several leaves and two small twigs out of his unruly brown hair. As soon as he returned to the castle, he was going to log this forest to the ground, then build a castle over it.

This was his brother's fault. George thought it would be an excellent adventure for him and a couple of his knight friends to go camping the forest behind their castle. He had even been so kind as to invite his younger brother to come along. Garret had jumped at the opportunity. This was the first time that his brother had been nice to him since before he could remember. Mostly, George called him names and insulted him, usually in front of George's friends as well. As George himself was perfect, Garret was left with absolutely no arsenal with which to defend himself, and just walked away, his ears burning.

But this time had been different.

"Hey, Garret," his brother had called, confusing Garret for a moment. He hadn't been anything but 'pipsqueak' or 'twiggy' for a long time. "Would you like to come camping with us?" He threw his hand out to a group of about five of his closest lackeys.

"I don't know," Garret muttered, looking for a trap.

"Come on," his blond brother implored. "Won't it be better to go get a breath of fresh air, gets some exercise, instead of burying your head in those books of yours?"

"Sure," Garret agreed. "It'll be fun."

Right. Fun. Garret gritted his teeth angrily. George and his arrogant, ugly friends must have thought it was enormously funny to abandon Garret alone in the woods. They were probably sitting in front of the hearth right now, sipping wine and laughing at Garret's misfortune.

A stick popped out of nowhere and smacked him in the thigh, hard.

He cried out in pain, but immediately shut his mouth, embarrassed that someone may have heard his girlish cry.

"I'm going to _burn_ this forest to the _ground_," he shouted angrily, keeping his voice down in the manly registers. He stumbled on, trampling as much of the greenery as humanly possible.

After a little while, he managed to lurch into a clearing. He let out a breath that was dangerously close to a sob, but choked it back. He adjusted the furs across his back, straightened his jerkin and tried to get his bearings from the sun.

"Deary me," a withered old voice croaked, "did you do this?"

Garret whirled around to see a crooked old lady standing beside his path of destruction. At last, a person! Perhaps she could tell him the way home.

"Excuse me," he said, sweeping into a bow, "do you know where we are?"

"Of course, young man," she snapped, glaring at him with blue eyes. "We're in the woods."

"I know we're in the woods," Garret replied, his voice forced through gritted teeth, "but I need to get back to my castle. Do don't know in what direction Halford lies, do you?"

"The more important question is, did you do this?" The woman pointed at the broken ferns and branches that marked Garret's passing.

All the stress at being lost in the forest and his anger at his brother exploded in him in a ball of fury, and he lost his temper. "Yes, I did," he snarled at the woman. "I hate this stupid forest, and it should be leveled to make way for cattle grazing or something."

The lady tsked and shook her head. "That was not a good thing. You need to learn to respect the forest."

She cocked her head at him, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. There was something strange about this woman. She looked old, but the movements she made, made her seem younger.

She smiled, revealing a row of perfect white teeth. "I have it." She flicked a finger at him, and Garret froze.

His sword dropped to the ground, and his arms raised themselves above his head. He tried desperately to pull them down, but it didn't work. His skin became thicker, and turned brown as his fingers split and lengthened. His legs fused together and he grew taller, taller, and wider still.

Green leaves burst all over his arms and fingers, and it was done. Garret was an oak tree.

The old woman, now no longer old, but a beautiful dryad with long chestnut hair and sparkling blue eyes. She leaned into Garret, and pressed a kiss onto his barky trunk.

"When someone wants to be friends with the forest, you will be released," she whispered to him, and flitted off, leaving Garret alone.


	9. Leaving

Yessum, it's an update! I'll try and get back on schedual, but honestly, it's going to be a little touch and go for a while, because I'm seriously busy on top of hectic on top of, well, everything else. I still find writing uber theraputic, but finding the time is a little difficult. So, yeah.

On that note, I'm still pretty busy, so I can't do any reader reviews. I'd just like to thank you all, and say that that story at the end was **not** anything to do with this story. I was just something I found while cleaning my room, and wanted to post it. I might turn it into a story after this one, maybe not.

You guys seriously make my day all the time.

Love and giggles

-Lulai

Chapter Nine: Leaving

"Message for ye, yer highness," a man in a gold trimmed shirt said with a bow. Xavier accepted the letter from his seat at the breakfast table, setting down his knife and fork. He slit the wax seal and read the note, his face going remarkably pale.

"What is it, Xavier?" his brother asked.

"You'd better read this," he replied, handing the letter to his bother.

"What is it?" Wynne asked, leaning towards Zander as he read the note, as if to scan it herself, although she was sitting several feet away from him.

"It's a list of all the Equilian prisoners of war," Xavier replied grimly. "Apparently, a small band of soldiers were ambushed on a routine scouting mission, and are being held for ransom."

"How horrible!" Vicky exclaimed. "Those poor men."

"War is not often pretty," their mother Selena said. "What are they asking for?"

"Ten thousand gold," Zander replied, "and a good chunk of land from around Barrish. But that's not all. Look at this, Xavier, third man down on the list."

Xavier took the letter back from his brother. The name jumped out at him. _Devon of Delainë._ He looked back up to his twin. "That's the man who saved my life."

"I know," Zander said, nodding. "You ranted about him when you first came back and were still feverish."

"I have to rescue him." Xavier spoke loud enough for his family to hear, but he was really speaking to his brother. If he couldn't make Zander understand, then no one would.

But Zander knew and didn't try to dissuade him. He merely nodded and gave his brother a reassuring smile.

Wynne, however, had other plans.

"You can't go!" she exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the table as she jumped up from her chair, her brown eyes bright with tears. "It's too dangerous. You haven't fully recovered yet. You can't even walk!"

Xavier bit back a furious retort, knowing that she was only trying to keep him safe, not prick his pride. "Nevertheless," he said calmly, "I have decided upon my course of action. I will seek passage around the coast to the eastern side and make my way from there. The Equilians have never made secret of where their war camp is. It should be easy enough to find."

Wynne was sucking on her lower lip viciously. "I can't lose you now," she whispered. "We already lost Father."

"He will be alright," his mother said, firmly, but kindly. "The way is dangerous, but he has faced danger before and returned." She cast her dark gaze on her second son. "Just come back to us, alright?"

Xavier nodded. "Alright."

He squeezed Wynne's shoulder before limping out of the room. He had several things to arrange.

…

"Drewery," Delainë said, looking up from scribbling numbers down on a scrap of parchment. "To what do I owe this honour?"

"Spare me the formalities," Xavier replied, standing at the corner of Drewery's desk. "I need a ship."

Delainë raised a glossy black brow. "And where might you be going?"

"Equilian."

Delainë stood. "Any particular reason you are going there?" He moved to a port map that was hanging on two hooks on the wall.

"I have some personal matters to attend to," Xavier said vaguely.

"Have you forgotten about our deal?" Delainë said with quiet menace, shooting him a glance with his uncanny eyes.

"I will leave Juliette in the hands of Zander, but she's already been smoothed into society along with Lauren," Xavier said. "If all goes to plan, I should be back within the week, and will carry out the remainder of our contract."

"I am thinking that you should be giving him the ship," a soft accented voice called out of the darkness. Dhatri stepped forward from the shadows.

"_Yotri lha_ can be taking care of herself, _alba_," she said, her soft gauzy fabric shimmering out from behind her as she walked. The light shone through the navy blue silk, illuminating the silver threads sown throughout. "Besides, it would be pleasing to me."

Eric rubbed his forehead wearily. "You make me so soft, Dhatri."

"I will let you stab few men more late," she said. "Now, be giving this man a ship. You are having one leave from Barrish in two days." She turned to Xavier, holding up her hand with her littlest finger leaning away from her other ones.. "_Plitha togari, wentala zhant_."

Xavier didn't understand the words, but he understood the meaning behind them. He bowed to her, and she inclined her head, gracefully. It made Xavier wonder Dhatri's exact position in her homeland.

"Will you be telling Julie?" Delainë asked.

Xavier nodded. "I had better be on my way then."

…

Julie was getting quite fed up with her family. They had been treating her like a porcelain doll ever since the night she was taken. They hadn't even let her out of bed the day after.

But today, the sun was out, and Julie felt like going to sit in its warmth and maybe do some mental sketching. She pulled on a wheat coloured day dress with matching gloves. Her boots were the same ivory kid ones, but she had only brought the two pairs, plus her slippers. It was a hard choice, but she reassured herself with the fact that ivory goes with pretty much everything.

After sneaking down the stairs, Julie crept across the hall, and quickly opened the door and shut it behind her. As she did, she nearly knocked into another person coming up in front of her.

She put a hand to her mouth in mortification to see Zander sprawled out in front of her. Still blushing furiously and placing one hand against her breast in apology, she offered her other hand to help him up.

"It seems I'm constantly running into you," he said with a shake of his head, ignoring her helpful hand and managing to get up himself. His face was pale by the time he was standing straight, and he rubbed his leg with a gesture that Julie knew too well.

"Eck-zayv-her?" she asked incredulously. This was the second time that she had gotten them mixed up. She had been better of late, but still. Her eyes flicked down him, noticing something odd.

"Where his yhour c-hane?" she asked.

"I don't need it any more," he said. "Were you heading somewhere?"

Julie waved her hand at the offending hotel. "Ow-t of th-here. Th-hey th-hink Ah w-hill ber-hake, and iht ihs eck-zahs-ting. Yhou?" Julie wondered at this. Xavier was the first person that she was actually willing to have a verbal conversation with. Usually, the sound of her mannish voice disturbed people so much that she tried to hide it, but it was so imperative to her that Xavier understand what she was trying to say.

"Actually, I was here to talk to you." He looked at the hotel. "May I take you to a little bakery I know of?"

Julie nodded, smiling widely. "An-hee-where b-hut here."

Xavier took her arm, and forcing his leg to work normally, he walked her down the street, until they reached a charming little building with a brick front, and a shingle roof.

Sitting at a table with a chocolate pastry in front of her, Julie finally couldn't take it any more. She touched his arm, then lifted her eyebrows in question, gesturing back and forth between them.

"Yes," he replied slowly, sitting back slightly in the large wooden chair with red pillows on the seats. "I have to tell you that I am going away for a little while. Kingdom business."

Julie waved her hand around and looked at him in question again.

"Where?" he asked. She nodded, her smile replaced by a concerned look. "Equilian," he responded quietly.

_What?_ she signed, her jaw open, and it pleased him a little to know that he could read some of her hand signals.

"The man who saved my life is being held prisoner in Equilian. I am going to rescue him," he said simply, not trying to make it sound bigger than it was.

"Who?" she asked, her voice rough with surprise.

"Does it matter?" Xavier asked. "The man saved my life, and whether he's a prince or a pauper, I want to return the favour." His brow wrinkled slightly in thought. "You might actually know him," he mused. "He said he was from Delainë. Devon of Delainë in fact."

"D-hev-on?" Julie cried. She tapped her chest almost frantically with her index finger.

"You know him?" he asked. She nodded. "Another reason that I should be going."

"B-hut yhou are s-hick," Julie protested. As much as Devon was a friend, Xavier was still on the mend and in much more danger than him.

"How well does a man have to be to do the right thing?" Xavier said philosophically.

Julie couldn't answer if she wanted to. She just shook her head in confusion and what felt a lot like loss. If Xavier fell sick and died… she wasn't prepared for how much her heart hurt at that. He was one of her few friends.

"Yhou are dee-t-her-mand th-hen?" she asked softly.

"Yes," he replied.

"W-hen?"

"I leave from Barrish tomorrow." He leaned forward and took her hands. "I will be back, I promise. But I have to do this, or it will weigh on my chest forever."

She nodded, not looking at him. "Ah unner-stand."

His chest hurt a little at her refusal to look at him. Perhaps she didn't understand after all. He dropped her hands. "I should take you back."

She nodded again, not saying anything.

They walked back to the door of her hotel in silence.

"If everything goes well, I will be back in a couple weeks or so," he said suddenly. She looked up at him, surprised, the tip of her thumb in her mouth.

She removed the digit, and nodded sagely, giving a brave smile. She touched her fingertips to her mouth, and brought them in a small circle to her other open palm, then touched her middle finger to her mouth, and pointed it downward. "G-hood l-huck," she translated softly.

"Thank you," he replied, then against his better judgement, he cupped her cheek and brushed a light kiss across her lips. Her eyes closed and she leaned into him, but he pulled back slowly. Call it selfish, but he didn't want her only memory of him to be that mistaken incident that happened in the cellar those few nights prior.

"I'll see you soon," he promised again, and turned before he changed his mind.

Julie watched Xavier's back as he limped away, her heart aching more than she thought possible. Could it happen? Could one fall in love with a simple brushing of lips? She couldn't bare the thought of him going somewhere to be captured, or possibly even killed.

Her lips tightened, and she brushed the tears from her eyes with the palm of her hand. She turned sharply on her heel, and went to go write a letter.


	10. Gone

Hey guys, I'm back! Having successfully navigated my way through Nanowrimo and winning (wee!) I'm glad to be back and writing about the Drewery twins et all. After this story is done, I might re-edit the story I wrote (which is currently titled 'the V word') and post it later. It is way too full of typing diarrhea, not to mention, it's only about half done.

As most of you may have noticed, there's those new reply thingies, which I am using. If you really want a reply, please, sign in and I will respond.

Here's a shout out right now to everyone who reviewed and didn't get a reply. Shout out!>>

Anywho, as an interesting fact, this chapter is exactly 2500 words. Freaky, huh?

-Lulai

Chapter Ten: Gone

"You didn't have to come with me," Xavier said to his grandmother as they stood on the wooden pier in the port of Barrish. A slight river breeze was blowing, ruffling his hair, and making him eager to continue on his journey. It was a strange thought to him, to want to go back to the place where he had seen so much death, but just the thought of actually doing something instead of sitting around the castle made his feet itch to get onto the boat that was currently docked beside where they stood.

"Nonsense," Fiona responded, brushing an imaginary piece of lint off her purple skirt. "You need at least one friendly face to see you off. Besides, I haven't been to Barrish in a long time. You merely gave me an excuse to come."

A grin tugged at Xavier's lips. "If you say so."

Fiona put her hands on her hips, and looked at him through raised eyebrows. "Don't get smart with me, Xavier," she said sternly, then surprised him by pulling him into a tight hug.

"But stay smart out there," she continued, her voice going warbly with held back tears. "Come back to us."

"I will, Grandmother," he promised, hugging her back. "Promise you'll keep an eye out for everyone at home."

She snorted. "Of course. You know how much I like to stick my nose in everyone's business."

"All aboard!"

Xavier slowly pulled away from his grandmother's embrace. "I have to get on the ship now," he said softly.

She held him out an arm's length and straightened his hair. "You'd better get going them," she said crisply, and turned him about. "All your belongings have been loaded on the boat already."

"Thanks," Xavier said, adjusting his brown coat over his shoulders. He limped up the gangplank towards the sleek brown ship that was taking him back to the eastern coast of Equilian.

"Bye darling!" Fiona called, waving at him. "See you soon!"

He waved back, as the gangplank was pulled up behind him.

"Ah, yer highness," the captain said. "I be Cap'n Kinsley. Glad to have ye aboard."

"Thanks, Captain," Xavier said, shaking the man's rough sea-hardened hand. Captain Kinsley was an almost slight man compared to Xavier's height, but had muscles the size of water barrels. His head hadn't been shaved very recently, and the short bristles of hair showed a balding head, but his moustache was dark brown and thick. "I'm glad that you could take me on on such short notice."

"Anythin' for Delainë," Kinsley replied. "That be a man ye be wantin' for ye, not against ye, if ye know what I mean."

"Yes I do," Xavier replied dryly.

The Captain turned suddenly, shouting out orders that were followed impeccably.

"May I stay at the prow, out of the way?" Xavier asked.

"Of course, yer highness," the Captain said, before leaping to his spot at the steering wheel.

The ropes were thrown up from the dock where they were piled in small piles on the wooden deck. Other rigging was strung across, while sailors shouted instructions and general jibes to each other from up on the two tall wooden masts in the centre of the ships.

There was a great clanking sound as the chain was dragged up from the bottom of the ocean, and the front sails were unfurled with a rustle of ivory fabric. They billowed and the boat started forward smoothly as the captain shouted orders for rigging steering.

Xavier stood at the prow and looked down the river towards the ocean horizon.

He was on his way.

…

Zander sat as his desk, flipping a coin between his fingers, his mind on other things than the declaration in front of him.

"Your highness?"

Zander straightened and set the coin down on the table as a scruffily dressed man entered the room. Pulling off his dark billed cap, the man revealed a dirty face, half covered by a dark grey beard, and one bright blue eye. The other was simply a hole with a great scar running from the centre of his forehead down his cheek, and ending halfway down his neck.

"Yes Landon?" Zander said, standing. "You found something?"

The man nodded. "I did. This man, Winters, was originally from the small fishing village of Holmstead. He left to find fame and fortune, but instead fell into a nasty little circle of women and booze. When he was twenty four, he signed on a ship, where he stayed for three years. He came back, soberer, and meaner, and has been running odd not-quite-legal jobs ever since."

Zander nodded, absorbing this. "What was this ship's name?" he asked.

The man fingered his beard. "_Reamer's Bane_, I think."

"Are you sure?" Zander asked, turning his head sharply to look at him.

"Absolutely," Landon said. "Why?"

Zander sat back down, pressing the coin to his lips in thought. "There's another person that I know of that came from a ship named the _Reamer's Bane_, and if I am correct, then I have some more digging to do."

Standing suddenly, Zander pulled a bag of coins from a drawer in his desk. "Thank you very much, Landon, for your service."

The man took the bag with an extremely graceful bow, quite at odds with his haggard look. "Any time, your highness."

A knock at the door prompted Zander to ask who it was.

One of the butlers opened the door. "There is a young miss waiting for you in the green salon," he said.

A smile snaked over Zander's mouth. "Excellent. I will be right there. Landon, you can show yourself out?"

Landon gave another half bow, with an almost mocking grin, and Zander nodded back.

As he followed the butler down the hall, Zander couldn't help but wonder why Lauren had visited him. He had always been the one to initiate their meetings, mostly because she was oddly fascinating to him. He had never met a woman besides his sisters who could cross verbal swords with utmost skill and did so at every opportunity.

Not to mention that she was a little more than easy on the eyes. Long wavy chestnut brown hair that seemed to have a life of its own, always crowding her face with its cute button nose and sweet lips. She was built like woman too, all soft curves and pale flesh, and he could easily picture her flush with desire.

As soon as he entered the salon however, he realised that today was different.

Lauren stood, looking out the window, her deep sapphire eyes brimming with tears, her hands holding each other in a death grip.

"Lauren?" he asked softly, wondering what was wrong.

At the sound of his voice, she turned and flung herself into his arms, trying to talk to him, but her words were so fast and garbled with tears that he couldn't pick out a single thing she said.

"I'm sorry, darling," he said, "but you need to slow down. What's wrong?"

"She's gone!" Lauren cried, and promptly burst into renewed tears.

…

Xavier stood at the prow of the _Aquamarine_, the fresh sea breeze blowing through his hair, inhaling the salty tang of the ocean. They had been sailing for nearly two hours now, and he never felt more free. He didn't realise how much he had liked the ocean until he returned to his land-locked home.

He watched the ship cut through the waves, bouncing only slightly. He had a slight bit of nausea when they first reached the open ocean, but now that he had been riding the swells for a little while, he seemed to have gotten a hold over his stomach.

"Yer highness?" Captain Kinsley called to him.

"Yes?" Xavier responded, turning to the man.

"I forgot to be askin' after yer man, there," he replied, tying some sort of rope to the hull of the ship.

"My man?" Xavier responded, surprised.

"Aye," Kinsley responded, straightening. "Tall lad, brought on yer baggage. He looked mighty nervous, an' I be wonderin' if it be his first time at sea, an' if it is, he shouldn't spend all his time down in the cabins, but come up on deck to get his sea legs."

"I didn't bring a ser – " Xavier was cut off by the snapping of ropes and the shouting of several men.

"Ay! Lads! Tie that down!" Kinsley was off to make sure the rigging was secure.

Xavier walked purposely towards his cabin. He didn't much care that the boy had stowed away, there were many reasons boys ran away to the sea, and besides, that was the captain's problem. What irritated him was that he had used Xavier's name to worm his way aboard. The stowaway had probably bribed the servant that his grandmother had hired to bring his bags on to let him do it, so he would have an excuse.

Although he was riding first class, his room wasn't anything overly fancy. It was still a small room, with a low shelf running around the one side. A small wooden desk with a matching chair sat opposite a bed strung across the side. There were two port holes overlooking the ocean had a curtain over them to keep out the light. Opening the door slowly, Xavier stepped into the fairly lit room, ready for anyone.

A dark lump lay in the hammock, apparently asleep judging by the deep heavy breathing coming from him. The boy did look rather frail, covered only by a thin woolshirt that didn't quite hide the slimness of his back.

Xavier's lips tightened in annoyance, and he flipped the hammock so the stowaway tumbled out, landing on the floor with a thud and a strangled yelp of surprise.

On his way to the floor, however, his dark billed cap fell off, letting loose a torrent of thick golden hair.

Xavier groaned. He knew of only one person with hair that thick and lustrous.

But what the hell was she doing on the _Aquamarine_?

Julie groaned, rubbing her hip. She knew that that hammock didn't look very safe, but she had been so nervous that it was either sleep or pace frantically. Apparently, she chose wrong. A noise behind her made her look up, and her face paled.

"Eck-zayv-her?" she croaked, scrambling to her feet, holding her cap in her hands. It certainly was Xavier filling the small room with his presence, his jaw clenched tightly with anger, his eyes furiously dark.

"What do you think you're doing here?" he asked her, taking a step forward, closing the door behind him. Julie instinctively took a step backwards, but had to stop when the corner of the desk dug into the side of her ribs.

Her thumb came up into her mouth as she formulated her answer. She couldn't very well tell him that she wanted to make sure that nothing happened to him.

"I believe I asked you a question," Xavier said, his voice silky soft and almost menacing.

Julie ignored the nausea in her stomach from her nervousness and fear, and stood up straight to look him in the eye.

"Ah w-hant t-hoo help," she responded gruffly, wishing that she had more of her brother's commanding presence. In fact, she wouldn't mind her brother being there. She didn't know what she was thinking, but she was beginning to doubt her initial plan, and she really needed someone's support.

She steeled herself internally. She was here to make sure that Xavier didn't fall ill again. He was not well enough to undertake such a journey, and far too stubborn to admit it.

"And how were you proposing to do that?" asked, his eyes all but spitting black at her.

Her inner resolved deflated a little bit. "Ah d-hon't n-hoe," she said, her shoulders falling.

"You are not strong enough to be in such a place as Equilian," Xavier said quietly.

Hoping to draw a smile from him, Julie flexed her bicep, patting the ridiculously weak muscle. Her small grin faded, however, when Xavier lifted an unimpressed eyebrow at her.

"You call that a muscle?" he asked, then before she could react, twirled her into his body, his bicep pressing into her throat, cutting off her air supply.

She gaped at him open-mouthed, trying to pry his arm from her neck to no avail. After a couple seconds, he removed his limb, but made it clear to her that he was in control of his arm, not her, and Julie dragged a grateful gulp of air into her lungs.

"That," he murmured in her ear, "is a muscle." His arm encircled her waist, the fingers of his other hand tracing over her neck lightly, causing goose bumps to raise all over her body.

"Half the men in Equilian are as strong as I am. Most are even stronger."

Julie shivered, his words affecting her almost as much as his touch. He was far stronger than he let on, which he demonstrated when she couldn't even budge his arm so she could breath. That someone else might be able to do such a thing to her frightened her quite a bit.

A cheeky part of her mind pointed out that still couldn't breathe, but for a different reason.

"Ah ahm m-hore sm-hart," she whispered.

His arm tightened on her waist almost painfully. "No," he disagreed, "you are naïve. We are going into a war zone, Juliette. Men do not rely on intelligence during war; they rely on brute strength."

Her heart broke for the pain in his voice, but she said nothing.

Xavier's free hand slid up into her hair, sliding his fingers through her golden locks, and pulling them out so that they fell through his fingers like strands of thread back to her shoulders.

"They dream of women with hair like yours," he said, "soft and golden light." His hand fisted in her hair. Julie wished she could see his face, see what he was thinking. "I will not insult you by telling you what they would do to you, but believe me when I say that even with your intelligence, you would not be able to stop them."

"Ah ahm n-hot sc-hared," Julie lied, her voice a rough whisper.

"Then you are more foolish than I ever thought you could be," he said, releasing her and putting as much room between them as the small space would allow.

She began to chew on her forefinger nail agitatedly. "N-hot a f-hool," she said. "D-tehr-m-hend."

He gave her an almost confused look. "You would do this all for Devon?"

"W-hould yhou?" she replied philosophically, her voice cracking with fatigue. Perhaps it would be better if he thought she was there to help rescue Devon.

His jaw tightened again. "You are not to leave this room under any circumstances," he said, and closed the door behind him.

Julie sat down on the chair with a heart-wrenching groan, putting her face in her hands.


	11. Prisoners

I know, I know, I lied. I said I'd have this chapter up yesterday, but I was super busy studying for my Calculus final today. So here it is.

Not much else to say here. Thank you to everyone who reviewed that I'm not (technically) allowed to respond to. **Kat Laleh:** I have started to read your story, and plan to finish it during Christmas break! I think it's really quite good! I'm excited for your book; you must tell me the title. **Lalaith:** maybe. It needs major editing. **Sasami: **thanks!

Shh! Our secret!

-Lulai

Chapter Eleven: Prisoners

Julie awoke with a start, nearly toppling out of the hammock again, but catching herself, and sat completely and utterly still in the dark until she felt she was out of danger. It was night, but perhaps she would be able to sneak up on deck, just to stretch her legs for a little while. She pushed the three thick blankets off her legs into a small pile at the base of her bed.

She stretched her neck, slipping out of the hammock silently. She did a small dance, the cold floor seeping through her woollen socks and freezing her toes until she found the small candle in a metal holder that they were allowed to light on the ship. A box of wooden matches lay beside them, and she went through several before one finally ignited. Holding her candle aloft, she found the small boots that Fiona had given her and pulled them on.

A small sound of disgust escaped her throat when she saw that her exit had been effectively blocked. Xavier sat, the chair tipped back against the door, his arms crossed over his chest. His chin was down on his chest, his entire head wagging back and forth slightly with the roll of the ship.

Julie put her hands on her hips and glared at his sleeping figure. Although he did look mighty cute asleep…

_No!_ Julie snarled at herself silently, and looked away. Looking around in frustration, she noticed the large black blob that covered the two portholes. She stuck her head underneath the large curtain, feeling the cold seeping from the glass even though she wasn't touching it.

She angled her head, trying to see the sky, as the water was just an inky sheet. A smile graced her lips as she saw the twinkling little beads of light. To bad she couldn't go up on deck and see them all stretched out above her.

Well. Julie frowned, taking her head out from behind the curtains before her nose froze off. She couldn't just stay up all night, now that her planned escape from her little prison had been effectively prevented.

She gave another fierce glare over in Xavier's direction, and set the candle down on the desk top. She hoped he was cold. She was about to climb into the hammock, when he gave a small cough. Sighing, she turned back to him. She couldn't leave Xavier to freeze. She was there to look after him, and just because she was feeling a little vindictive didn't mean that she could _stop_ looking after him.

Detangling one of the blankets from its fellows, she padded softly over to Xavier's sleeping form, and laid the thick wool blanket on top of him, careful not to wake him.

Satisfied, and extremely proud that she had done a very humanitarian thing while still being angry at him, Julie toed off her boots, and gathered the two remaining blankets before gently settling down on the hammock.

Xavier watched her out of slitted lids, haven woken up when she put the blanket over top of him. He could only see her silhouette against the light of the candle, as her back was to him, but he could imagine her disgruntled look at the missed chance of escape.

Of course, it wasn't the most comfortable position for him to sleep in, but he couldn't let her get up on deck. Most men on these ships would not have seen a woman in months, and seeing one dressed in men's clothing might give them the wrong idea. Even if she was here to rescue Devon, he was going to protect her at all costs.

He barely refrained from smiling appreciatively, though, as Julie climbed into the hammock carefully, her boy breeches accentuating her rear quite nicely. Xavier had to fight quite fiercely to fend off the idea of taking her in his arms and making her forget all about Devon of Delainë.

The candle was extinguished with a sharp puff of breath from Julie, plunging the cabin back into darkness again.

…

"And just where were you?"

Lauren sighed, giving her gloves to Hillary, wishing that she could just go up to her room. She was far too exhausted to deal with her mother right at that moment. "I've been out looking for Jules."

Her mother, the Lady Grey, gave a huff of annoyance. "Imagine, running off like that. Does the girl have absolutely no regard for her reputation? I told Eric that he was always too lax with her freedoms back in Delainë."

"Perhaps," Lauren mumbled in not so much agreement, but to get her mother off her back.

"And the nerve of her going into a war-stricken country. Why, she may be abducted by savages!" In her agitation, Lady Grey pulled the thread through the wrong hole in her cross stitch and had to pick it out.

"I'm sure Prince Xavier will keep her safe," Lauren replied.

"Hah!" Lady Grey snorted. "It is completely unseemly to be escorted around by a male without a proper chaperone, and besides, he has a bum leg."

"His leg doesn't seem to slow him down overly much. And Zander says that he's one of the best swords in the kingdom," Lauren said without thinking.

"Zander?" Her mother's eyes narrowed. "As in, Prince Zander?"

Lauren silently berated herself. "Yes. Prince Zander was consoling me when I first found out about Jules' disappearance."

"Consoling how?" her mother asked accusatorily.

Lauren shrugged. "He was just reassuring me that his brother would take good care of her."

"And where did you meet Prince Zander?"

"What is this, the Interrogation Chamber?" Lauren cried out, throwing her hands in the air. "I went to see him, alright? I like him."

Lady Grey shook her head, her own eyes snapping. "It doesn't matter. I forbid you to see him."

"_What_?" Lauren's voice was precariously close to a shriek. "Why?"

"Because he's a womanising playboy," her mother replied, "and I don't want you to ruin your reputation and chance at a decent marriage."

It was on the tip of Lauren's tongue to ask _to whom?_ but she kept her words to herself, and asked instead, "And why isn't the prince of the realm a decent marriage?"

Her mother gave her another glare, tugging on her needle almost viciously. "Because marriage isn't anywhere on his mind. Zander has taken in influential ladies before. In fact, Lord Gellish was telling me about a certain young lady named Miranda." She raised her eyebrows, implying the result of that union.

Lauren didn't believe it. She _refused_ to believe it. "What if he's changed?" she queried. Zander wouldn't do anything like that. True, he said he didn't like marriage, but he wasn't the kind of man who would use a woman, then drop her. He was a good man, if a bit arrogant.

"Men like that don't change, Lauren," her mother said, looking back at her needlepoint, considering the topic closed.

Lauren wasn't about to give up that easily. "You're wrong about Zander," she said.

"Oh, really?" her mother snapped, setting down her cross stitching. "He's a _prince_, Lauren. He could have any woman in the kingdom. You're merely a Lady, and not an high ranking one at that. Why in the world would he want you, if not as part of some game rich young men play?"

Lauren's mouth hung open, and a familiar tightness started behind her eyes. So, this was it. Her mother didn't think she was pretty enough, or had enough wealth to interest a man like Zander. While she knew that she didn't, it was quite a blow to have her mother confirm it.

Lady Grey took Lauren's hand, and gave it a light pat. "I just don't want to see you hurt, Lauren." She sat back, content, and picked back up her needling. "On a happier note, we have a special guest coming to dinner tomorrow."

"That's great," Lauren said, smiling weakly. "Can I be excused? I'm feeling a bit weary."

"Alright, dearie. And don't worry about Julie. I'm sure Eric will have found her and is now dragging her home."

"Yes, I'm sure," Lauren said, before flinging herself into her room, trying to smother her sadness in her pillow.

…

A pale light shone a bar on the floor from under the curtains when Julie awoke next. Her eyes felt like sandpaper, and she didn't feel like opening them. Hillary probably would be in any minute, though, to get her up.

A sharp groan and a series of creaks brought her into a more semi-roused state, in which she actually lifted her head and stared around in newly awakened confusion at the small dimly lit wooden room.

Her brain finally completed waking up and memory crashed into her like a sack of bricks. Xavier. Sick. Ship. Prison. Right. Her head flopped back down onto the small rucksack of clothes she had been using as a pillow with a groan, her blond hair scattering around her.

Her head shot back up again, her blue eyes narrowed. Xavier was no longer in front of the door; the chair was again sitting at the desk, the blanket folded neatly on top of it. On the desk was a tray with a roll and butter and a glass of what looked like milk, as well as a small wrinkled green apple.

Julie started to climb out of bed, but her foot became tangled in one of the blankets, and she fell out of the hammock with a thump and a strangled cry.

Just great. Now she had a bruised knee on top of her bruised hip. Tomorrow, _she_ was going to sleep in the chair. She stood and stretched, her neck kinking strangely. She pulled on the boots, admitting that even though they weren't as stylish as her kid ones, they were at least as comfortable. Besides, it wasn't as though she was going to be hailed for any new fashions dressed in Xavier's old work clothes.

Limping slightly and whimpering to herself for all the horrible indignities that had befallen her, she made her way to the door. Holding her breath for no other reason than anticipation, she slowly, silently, turned the latch.

It clicked and stayed locked.

She made a noise of disgust in the back of her throat. She should have known that Xavier wouldn't leave her to roam about freely. Normally, she would have been touched that he cared about her person, but right now she was simply annoyed. He could at least have stayed and kept her company.

Well, she had her breakfast to keep her company.

Not even half a day went by before Julie was bored out of her skull. She had done everything she had thought of, and had completely run out of ideas.

She now knew that the room was exactly fifteen and three quarters of her feet lined up toe to heel (she had measured twice), by twelve of her feet and maybe a toe. There were ten whorls of knots in the desk, one which looked remarkably like a cat.

She had brushed her hair, using a hundred strokes, although she lost count once and had to start over, trying not to remember Xavier holding her, running his own fingers through her hair.

She refolded all her clothes twice, trying to make as much room in her rucksack as possible.

She had paced the room diagonally, before clipping her hip on the desk. She whapped it angrily with her open palm, but then felt badly.

_I'm sorry_, she told the desk.

_It's okay,_ the desk replied. _I've been hit harder. I've even been burned once._

_Really?_ Julie sat down backwards on the chair. _When was that?_

_During a pirate raid,_ the desk said proudly. _Nearly burnt the entire ship._

_Was it scary?_ Julie asked, happy to have found a friend.

_Not really_, the desk replied. _It was merely really warm. But then again, I'm just wood. Wood and fire are sort of friends._

_Speaking of friends,_ the chair said from underneath Julie, _what are you going to do about this Xavier?_

_I don't know,_ Julie said, sighing. _He is right, Equilian isn't any place for a girl._

_Then don't be a girl,_ the desk replied.

_The desk is right,_ the chair agreed.

_Foolish._

Julie turned to glare at the hammock. _What are you talking about?_

_Xavier obviously doesn't want anything to do with you,_ the hammock responded cruelly. _You should just go home._

Julie nibbled on the nail of her little finger. _I… I don't think that's true._

_Of course it's true. Why else would he yell at you, then lock you in this cabin?_

_Then why did he kiss me?_ she countered.

The hammock chuckled. _As if you could call those kisses. He didn't even know it was you for the first one; he thought he was dreaming._

_He didn't think he was dreaming when he said goodbye to me at the hotel, _Julie whispered.

_Ha! That was a kiss he would give his sister, or grandmother._

Julie stuck her chin out stubbornly. _I don't care if he doesn't like me,_ she told the hammock. _I still love him, and if that means following him to the absolute cesspool of human civilisation, then so be it._

A click sounded behind her, and she whirled around, surprised. Xavier stepped in, holding a platter of what looked like dinner. Her heart skipped a beat, then settled down into a normal pace.

"I thought you might have been hungry," he said by way of greeting.

Her stomach answered for her, letting out a large growl. She nodded, smiling at him, and patting the desk as an invitation for him to sit.

Xavier either didn't understand her meaning, or was ignoring her again. "I also brought you a book," he said, laying the text down beside the bowl of stew.

Julie gave the gesture for _thank you_, and again motioned for him to sit.

"We'll be arriving in port in a day," he said shortly, and walked out the door, locking it behind him again.

Julie was torn between wanting to cry and wanting to scream angrily at Xavier. She compromised by blowing a raspberry at the door.

She put her arm on the desk, holding the book up right, and her chin on her arm, scooping the delicious stew into her mouth with her other hand, ignoring the lump in her throat.


	12. Escape

Here we go. Chapter Twelve. It's a bit scary, because I really have no idea what Lauren and Zander are up to. As I said before, I had Xavier and Julie's story all planned out, but I'm just making L&Z's up as I go. I imagine many of you are wondering what happened to their bet, don't worry, it will make a new appearance.

I think I reviewed everyone but **AIP** so... **awaiting impatient person** yes, it does suck, but she's not really that way. Lauren has these little moments of self-doubt, but she's such a go getter, that she doesn't let it get her down. And Julie will eventually find out Xavier's feelings for her. Eventually.

Yay, exams are over! I have two weeks of FREEDOM! Hopefully to figure out where this story is going. ((gulp))

-Lulai

Chapter Twelve: Escape

If Lord Stone didn't stop looking at her with those pleading brown eyes, he might find himself suddenly sporting several utensils.

Lauren concentrated on her roast beef as the fantasy of turning her current admirer into a fork porcupine played itself through in her mind.

"Lauren!"

"Hmm?" she hummed, looking up, her fork still in her mouth. Her mother sent a dagger glance at Lauren, and turned to her attention to the man sitting opposite her recalcitrant daughter.

"She's just been distracted by the disappearance of my niece," Lady Grey apologised for her.

"Ah," Lord Stone said. "I do hope the Lady Juliette turns up. She was probably just distracted and became lost."

It was the second visit in as many days since Julie's disappearance. Lord Stone had obviously come to win Lauren's affections, but had unfortunately become as welcomed by Lauren as a particularly loathsome case of the mumps. In some instances, Lauren was sure she would have preferred the mumps to Lord Stone's company. This was one of those instances.

"She is not a dog, Lord Stone," Lauren said acidly. "She is smart enough to know the way home."

"I did not imply that she was a dog, Miss Lauren," Lord Stone said, his voice not changing. "But you know that people like her often don't see the world like us."

"People like her?" Lauren asked, all together too sweetly.

"You know, deaf-mutes. Everyone knows they are a little off in the head, and that's why they don't have the same abilities as us. I commend you on your dedication to her over the years."

Lauren saw red, and grinded her teeth together, repressing the need to pound this idiotic ignoramus to a pulp.

Taking a deep breath, Lauren calmed her more basic urges. Oh, how she wished it was Zander sitting down the table from her, not Lord David Stone. She hadn't seen hide or hair of him in the past two days, an odd occurrence, since they used to talk at least once every day. Was her mother right? Had Zander lost interest in her?

And if so, was Stone really the only other option?

She paused and gave him a good look over. He wasn't bad looking, but neither was he particularly handsome. He was, for a better word, plain. His ordinary brown hair was combed neatly so that it didn't fall into his ordinary brown eyes, and his ordinary brown dress clothes were creased perfectly. There was absolutely nothing out of place with him, and it was absolutely _boring_.

Lauren wondered that when Lord David Stone went to the bakery, did he order a chocolate cake to keep with his apparent favourite colour, or vanilla to keep up with his boring theme?

"Lauren!"

The sharp command from her mother stopped another of her daydreams. She gave a bit of a return glare to the one arcing across the table. Was it her fault that Stone was so incredibly dull that she had to find other ways to occupy her mind?

"I see that Miss Lauren is not up to company at present," Lord Stone said, throwing a sympathetic look her way. Lauren barely, _barely_, refrained from rolling her eyes. He stood, and Lady Grey stood along with him. He made his way to Lauren's side, and took her hand.

"I do hope that Lady Julie shows up," he said, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand, "but in the meantime, may I call on you?"

"Of course you may," her mother cooed before Lauren could refuse. Lauren's lips tightened for a second before stretching into a watery smile.

"Thank you, Lord Stone, for the" – incredibly boring. Dastardly dull. Completely terrible. Absolutely, positively horrendous – "nice evening.

He nodded to her, and turned to grasp her mother's hand before making his way towards the door.

"Are you sure you would not like to stay for dessert?" her mother pleaded, almost embarrassing Lauren.

"I would love to, but I do have a pressing engagement elsewhere," Stone said.

Lauren snorted quietly to herself. She wondered if he would still have that pressing engagement if Lauren had been more receptive to him. Probably not.

"Alright then," her mother said. "But don't be a stranger to our door."

"Of course not. My ladies." Stone nodded his head in a final salute, and left the dining room.

Lauren was relieved to finally see him go.

Her mother, on the other hand, was not so impressed.

"What in the world do you think you're doing, young lady?" she asked. "That Lord Stone is a fine example of a perfectly suitable husband, and you barely spoke to him all evening."

"Lord Stone is as dull as dishwater, Mama," Lauren said, throwing down her napkin and rising, "and you know it as well as I." After a meal like that, she didn't think she could handle dessert.

"Lord Stone is a safe, respectable man, with a good future ahead of him," her mother returned as Lauren stomped to her room.

Lauren whirled around, glaring at her mother. "I don't care. _I don't want him_."

Her mother shook her head. "It doesn't matter who you want, it's who wants you."

Lauren gasped, hoping to everything that her mother wasn't insinuating that _she_ didn't want Lauren.

A slam to the door took away most of her anger. Most, but not all.

Lauren flung herself into the bed, and buried her face in her pillow, screaming as loud as she could about the injustices of everything. She was worried about Julie, but right now, she truly _missed_ her cousin. As almost cliché as it was, Julie really was a great listener and she needed someone to rant to.

A tapping at the window caused Lauren to lift her head. Curiosity overpowered the urge to stay in bed, and Lauren went to window and opened it.

"Give me your hand."

Lauren, surprise making her mind a bit numb, did as the voice bid and stuck out her hands, pulling the dark figure into her room.

Zander knocked her back, landing on top of her, and grinned down at her unabashedly.

"Hello," he said, his arms bracing his weight beside her shoulders.

"Hello to you too, I guess," Lauren said, a little disgruntled. He was fairly heavy on top of her, but it was a nice weight, an almost intimate weight, and she decided against telling him to move. "How in the world did you get up here?" she asked instead, but hazard a guess, plucking a rose petal from his dark hair.

"Climbed up the rose trellis," he confirmed, shaking his head. A couple more petals fell like rain onto Lauren's face.

She glared at him. "You could have broken your neck!" she exclaimed, thinking about how rickety the rose trellis looked.

He shrugged and rolled off of her to lean back, bracing himself on his elbows. "How else was I supposed to see you?"

Lauren rolled onto her stomach and gave him a condescending look. "Maybe you could try calling. I haven't seen you for two days."

"Calling?" Zander had the audacity to look affronted. "Woman, I have been calling. I've called three times in the last two days. Twice you were out, and the other time, your mother said that you were not feeling at all well. I figured the only way to talk to you would be take you by surprise."

Lauren gave a snort of disgust and ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it back from her face. "That would be my mother. She has decided that we wouldn't suit," she explained at his confused look, "so she's trying to twist fate to fit her designs.

"And why doesn't your mother think we'll suit?" Zander asked, rolling a rose petal between his fingers.

Lauren shrugged. "She thinks that you're just playing games."

Zander's eyes were a beautiful deep oak colour, the little sparkly gold bits glinting at her. "I can tell there's more to the story than you're letting on."

Was he psychic? Lauren twirled a strand of hair around her finger, biting her lower lip nervously.

"My mother heard a rumour," she started, "not that I believe it mind you, but I can't say the same for my mother, and she took exception to it…"

"Get to the point, Lauren."

"My mother heard that you took advantage of another girl," Lauren blurted out in a rush. "She's just afraid that you'll do to me what you did to Miranda."

Zander's eyes narrowed and darkened so the golden colour no longer sparkled. "Do you know who told your mother this rumour?"

"Lord Gellish, I think," Lauren supplied, laying a finger on her chin and pursing her lips in thought. "I don't really remember. We were yelling at each other at the time."

Zander scowled. Lauren was afraid she may have offended him.

"I didn't believe it, of course," she repeated.

"You shouldn't," Zander said. "In fact, I'd take into question everything Lord Gellish says. He's one of Grenalda's lackeys."

Lauren raised her eyebrows. "You mean that greasy man who couldn't keep his paws off everything there with a dress on?"

"One and the same."

"Ugh."

"I knew that Grenalda was the level of slime, but to deface me in such a heinous way…"

Lauren leaned forward, brushing her fingers over his shoulder. "No one in their right mind would believe him over you," she said loyally.

He nodded at her in gratitude.

Lauren realised that with her stomach on the floor and her arm outstretched, she was pulling the neckline of her dress down severely low. She pulled her arm back and wiggled, trying to pull the top of her dress back up to her collarbones where it belonged.

"Do you trust me?" Zander asked suddenly, interrupting her tugging and wiggling.

Lauren sucked in her lower lip. It was a serious question, and she was determined to give him a serious answer.

"Yes," she replied softly, realising the truth.

"Then I need you to come with me. I need your help with something." Zander hopped up and proceeded to the window.

"Zander," Lauren told him in a stern voice, "I am not climbing down that thing in a dress."

"You could always jump," Zander grinned up at her as he fit his feet into the first couple of slats. "I'll try and catch you at the bottom."

Lauren rolled her eyes to the Courts and shook her head. "I'll meet you out front."

…

Julie hiked the bag higher up on her back, staring resolutely at the back of Xavier's black boots, just as he instructed.

They had arrived in the small port city several hours earlier. Julie had watched the ship dock through one of the small portholes in the window. The door was still locked, and Julie was slightly worried that Xavier may have left her there. Although he probably left instruction to the captain to feed her and such, she wasn't about to let him go off gallivanting on his own. But there was the small problem of getting out of the room.

It was actually simpler than Julie expected. One of the crewmen unlocked the door and came in, carrying a load of blankets, laying them down on the cot.

"Oh," he exclaimed, noticing an equally surprised Julie. "Sorry. Didna know ye was in here. I'll be goin' now." The man left, but thankfully left the door unlocked. Julie grabbed her sack of things and rushed topside.

It was the first time Julie had been up on deck since she had sneaked on board, and she breathed the fresh sea air gratefully. The late afternoon sun cast an almost darkened bright glow over the huge port city. There were several similarities to Delainë, but there were even more differences.

She didn't have time to ponder these things, though, as she saw Xavier limping down the gangplank. She pulled her cap down tighter over her hair and scurried after him, neatly avoiding the other sailors who were offloading carts and barrels of various things.

Walking quickly along the dock was also a little tricky, as the whole thing seemed to be swarming with people, and none afraid to push her off at the slightest provocation. She kept to the centre though, and thanked her lucky stars for her slimness as she weaved her way through.

As soon as she had caught up with Xavier, however, he grabbed her elbow, pulling her roughly behind a large wooden cart loaded with turnips, mostly covered with a big piece of burlap cloth.

"I told you to stay on the ship, Juliette," he hissed at her.

Julie, quite fed up with his attitude, pulled her arm out of his grasp. "J-hoo-lee-_hen_," she retorted in her mannish voice. "Ahnd, n-ho. Ah w-hill n-hot st-hay ohn th-he shhh-hip."

"I cannot be held responsible for you out there, _Julian_," Xavier said quietly.

Julie shook her head. "Ah w-hill n-hot hold yhou r-hee-sp-hons-hi-ble."

Julie knew she had won when she saw a look of resignation in Xavier's eyes. Her emotions on that fact were mixed, however.

"You truly are determined then? There is nothing I can say to convince you to stay here?"

Biting her thumbnail, Julie nodded. There really was nothing he could say.

"Alright then," Xavier sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. "Let's have a look at you."

Smiling brightly now that he had acquiesced, Julie did a little twirl for him, showing off her disguise.

Xavier had to admit that it was an alright disguise. The clothing was loose enough to hide her curves, and from far enough away, she did look rather like a gawky young man, instead of the graceful woman he knew she was.

"What about your hair?" he queried, his mind remembering the golden hair falling out of her cap when he pulled her out of the hammock. "Can you braid it or something? To keep it up?"

"B-hett-her," she said and whisked off the low brimmed hat.

Xavier blinked when all her lovely hair didn't come tumbling out as he expected.

Her hair had been raggedly shorn with what looked like a dull knife, so that the golden locks were barely a couple of inches long, like a farm boy's. Almost not believing his eyes, he reached out his hand and skimmed it over her too-short hair.

"When did you do this?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"Y-hest-her-day," she replied.

Too much in shock, he said the first thing that came to his mind. "Your brother is going to kill me," he murmured, rubbing one a cut lock between his fingers.

"D-ho Ah p-hass ihnsp-hec-sh-hon?" she asked.

He didn't answer her directly, but said instead, "If you do want to come with me, you are going to have to play my servant." He gave her a look, pulling his hands back from her head. "I have to see a man who is going to help us get to the prisoner camp. I don't want you to look at anything or anyone, not even me. Keep your eyes downcast. We are in a very dangerous city, and I don't want you to do anything that may give us away inadvertently. Do you understand?"

Julie nodded.

That had been almost an hour ago. They had been walking through the city at a brisk pace, but had often had to slow to almost a crawl for the crowded port city.

Julie tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. Hunching her shoulders and slouching to disguise her height, she kept her head down and followed Xavier rather meekly. She grinned softly to herself, though. If there was one thing she was good at, it was being silent. She could do silent.

She was certain they were going to be walking forever when they finally came to a small tavern that showed signs of disrepair. Several boards had been put up where glass probably would have been. The boards were pealing in places, and there some lighter coloured ones, showing that some had been recently replaced.

Julie tried not to look too naïve as she walked in behind Xavier. She felt the eyes of at least five men look at their backs as they entered the smoky tap room. Xavier strode confidently up to the bartender, and Julie stood beside him, staring at the tips of her boots as if they held the secrets of the world.

"_Ista tinglar er?_" the barkeep asked suspiciously.

"_Utar,_" Xavier responded in the barkeep's tongue. "_U revar flena._" Julie barely refrained from looking at him in surprise. His accent was smooth, as if he had been speaking Equilian all his life.

The barkeep seemed to relax as he heard his language spoken back to him, and even let out a chuckle. "_Denali escalla,_" he said, shaking his head. "_Re saofin flenal torn wir._"

Xavier nodded in sympathy. "_Wir, goda escalla._" He handed over a coin to the barkeep. "_J'inq locala er Baranas?_"

"_Pleth yan._" The barkeep jerked a thumb at the stairs to the left of the bar. Xavier nodded his thanks, and walked towards them.

Julie followed him, holding onto the straps of her packsack, almost directly on his heels. Where they going to meet whoever Xavier had mentioned? Or had he just asked for a room for the night? Julie frowned, wishing she could speak the dialect.

Xavier pushed open the door to the room, onto an extremely fat man sitting at a desk. Julie peeked at him from beneath her eyebrows and wondered how this man was supposed to help them. He was wearing a large purple robe, his head was as bald as a rock, and looked as though he had trouble breathing.

As soon as he looked up, however, Julie was caught by his piercing silver eyes. Thankfully, they flicked over her almost dismissively, and he nodded to Xavier.

"_Roena tith, _Baranas" Xavier said, bowing.

"Good evening, Xavier," Baranas replied in Protantian.

Xavier looked mildly surprised. "You know who I am?"

Baranas shrugged. "Of course. Your brother Zander is a regular college of mine. I almost thought you were him, until I saw your limp."

A sour smile crossed Xavier's face. "Yes. It would be my limp to give me away."

"Not to mention that you carry your dagger on your right side," Baranas continued.

Xavier lifted his eyebrows coolly. "I guess you are as observant as my brother says," he said, a trace of insult in his tone.

"Is there anything I can do for you, _highness_?" Baranas asked.

"Zander said you could help me find the best route to _Partho Ret_," Xavier replied.

Baranas nodded. "I have a list of all the friendly towns, and the list gets bigger every day. It is mostly only the rebels who dissent now. Most of the farmers and merchants are just eager to get the trade back on schedule. They were hit the hardest, and not just by trade, but by labour as well."

Xavier nodded, his eyes haunted. "Yes, I know."

Baranas motioned with his hand. "Why doesn't your servant put your things in the room down the hall while you and I go over the map?"

Xavier nodded. "Julian?" he said.

Julie nodded, a little disappointed that she had to leave the conversation, but sure that Xavier would catch her up later. And she really, really wanted to sit down. As she left, she threw a final glance back towards the two men, and wondered how Xavier's leg was doing. Xavier stood over Baranas' shoulder, as he pointed something out.

As loathe as she was to admit it, he really didn't seem to need her.

Julie steeled her spine internally. She had made it this far; she wasn't about to turn back now.

* * *

A/N: 

Xavier and the bartender's coversation goes something like this:

"Can I get you something?"

"Maybe. A clean glass."

"Good luck. Nothing's clean here (meaning the town)anymore."

"Here. For prosperity (luck). Do you know where Baranas is?"

"Up stairs."

And _Partho Ret_ literally means _Death Valley._


	13. Explanations

What's this? An update? I'm sure you all thought I was dead. Well, nope. I was away over Christmas (in a sense of the word) and had no real access to a computer. Then, school started up again and I was way super busy. I think I got about two sentences written in that time (both which were subsequently deleted). Then last week, I was seriously ill. So, this week was the first week I had been able to write in a long time. I'll try my darndest to get the next chapter up faster.

Thanks for everyone who reviewed.

I guess this is the spot for disclaimers. It's rated T for a reason people. There's a swear word (ohmygod!) but nothing overly harsh (IMO)

See you soon (hopefully!)

-Lulai

Chapter Thirteen: Explanations

If Julie's face hadn't been so hot from the sun beating on it, she might not have woken up. She made a face of disgust, rolled over, and pulled her blanket up over her head.

That didn't work either. Her normally soft pink comforter was scratchy against her face and absolutely reeked. The smell caused her brain to wake up and memory crashed back into her.

Scrambling out of the dirty bed, gagging, Julie squinted into the orange morning sun. This was the first time she had been awake for the sun rise in a long time. Other than the pretty colour, she didn't really see what the big deal was. She would much rather be still asleep, although preferably in a bed that didn't smell like sweat and wet dog.

Scratching her head through her short locks, Julie glanced around the room. Nothing had been touched. The basin of water was still sitting on the floor, her bag and shoes sitting beside it. The tiny window was letting the morning sun stream in over the small cot she had until recently been occupying, and the door was still locked. It didn't look as though Xavier had been in all night.

A frown arrested her features. The man was going to kill himself long before he got into danger.

Perhaps he was waiting for her downstairs. She was positive he wouldn't just leave her there. Unless he left her with someone he trusted. Her frown deepened. He wouldn't. But just in case…

Splashing a little of the cold water on her face, she rummaged through her sack and pulled out her cap, which she jammed on her head. Although she missed her hair, it actually was quite a bit easier to keep as it didn't get nearly as tangled at night as usual. She had yet to see herself with the new cut, but if she looked boyish, then her aim had been met.

Julie shrugged on her pack and hurried down the stairs, ignoring the growling in her stomach.

The tap room looked quite stark in the morning light. There were two men, sitting at their respective tables sipping strong coffee, their hats pulled low over their faces and rough spun cloaks covering their backs. Julie didn't see Xavier anywhere, causing a tingle of worry wriggle its way into the back of her mind.

Remembering his advice about not talking to anyone, not that she could if she wanted to, Julie walked out into the sun, and sat down on the stoop, dropping her bag down beside her. She drew her knees up and rested her chin on them, wondering what she was going to do and how long Xavier was going to take. There were already people out, setting up shop, but even so, the morning held sort of a quiet stillness to it.

She had almost nodded off when she felt the shadow of someone beside her.

"_Yacat o had,_" the man told her. Julie looked up and felt a rush of relief when a pair of dark brown eyes peered out from under a floppy sun hat. He hadn't shaved that morning, the black whiskers blurring his jaw slightly, making him look older, but it was unmistakably Xavier.

Xavier didn't pause, but kept on down the street. Assuming that he had something along the lines of coming with him, Julie scrambled to her feet. By the time she had pulled on her rucksack, he was almost out of her sight. Biting her lip, she started after him.

His long stride was fast. Julie scowled, breaking into a jog, quickly becoming short of breath. Her lungs had never quite healed along with her vocal chords and her ear, but she pushed through the burning sensation until she caught up with him. Pride forced her to take deep quiet breaths, trying not to let him know how physically unfit she was.

He turned to his face to her, not breaking stride, but his eyes were smiling. Julie decided that the aching coolness in her lungs was worth the golden sparkle that she hadn't seen in those brown eyes of his for a long time.

He gave her a short spat of Equilian, raising his eyebrows at the end. Julie didn't know what he had said, but trusted that he hadn't said anything incriminating, so she nodded. A brief flash of white teeth shone in her direction as a grin split Xavier's face.

He slid into the crowd again, disappearing from her view. Julie's mouth dropped incredulously. He was leaving her? Again? As she scanned the crowd, a thread of real panic starting to choke her.

"Julian!"

Julie, overwhelmed by worry, didn't recognise her alias until someone called it again. For once she was grateful for her height as she scanned above the heads of the crowds.

A great surge of relief swept through her as she saw Xavier at a stall waving her towards him.

He gave her another mouthful of Equilian, and for some reason, probably because she was starving to death, it annoyed Julie to the point of fury. She stalked over, glaring daggers at him.

He obviously saw something amusing in her anger. He held something out in his hand to her, and as soon as she saw it was food, she snatched it out of his hand and sunk her teeth into it, giving an exaggerated sigh of relief as it hit her empty stomach.

Xavier said something to the vendor and they laughed together at her actions, but Julie ignored both of them, and examined whatever she was eating. It tasted sort of like bread, but it was flat and was covered in something that sort of tasted like butter, but not quite.

The vendor said something, pointing towards a small iron stove where a small woman in a large blue robe and two older children cooked the bread in a frying pan. Julie smiled at them, lifting her breakfast in thanks. She had never had fried bread before, but it was really good. She ripped off another piece and concentrated on ignoring Xavier.

Xavier started off again, motioning for Julie to follow him. She did so, still eating her fried bread, noticing how much less he was limping this morning. It was barely noticeable, except to her. She had grown so used to seeing him with it, now that he was walking almost normally, it looked strange.

They made their way back to the port they had arrived in the day before, only this time, they turned towards the riverboats instead of the tall masts of the ocean ships.

Julie stopped and looked around at all the ships, wrinkling her nose. Most of the boats were unloading fish straight onto the dock. She wasn't going to have to ride in a boat with _fish_ surely? She was smelly enough already. With all the things she remembered, laundry soap unfortunately wasn't one of them. At least she matched. When all one's clothes are brown, it's not difficult to colour-coordinate.

The midmorning sun was now starting to feel uncomfortably warm on her back. She took off her cap and rub her hand through her shaggy blonde hair, trying to cool her head down.

"Julian!"

At Xavier's impatient cry, Julie slammed her hat back on her head, grumbling inwardly, and hurried towards a particularly small vessel that Xavier was standing beside.

"Julian, _tray Fornetz Halib_," Xavier introduced. Julie gave a manly nod, and a firm handshake to the small thin man, with an equally small thin moustache. She felt positively enormous beside him, but she tried not to let it show.

The man motioned towards the boat, a small craft that couldn't be more than thirty feet long. It had a single short mast and two oars that tucked themselves to the sides of the boat. There was a little stairwell that lead down into the hull of the boat, but judging by the size, there was probably only a single room down in the galley.

Xavier stepped over the rope that was along the side of the ship, motioning for Julie to follow him. He made it seem easy, but the way the boat was rocking, Julie wasn't so sure she could make it on with the same sort of grace.

Julie stepped aboard, praying to anyone that was listening that she wouldn't slip and fall into the delta. Nothing could be more embarrassing.

It was a strange feeling when one of her feet was moving and the other stationary, but she took a big gulp of air and pushed her dock secure foot off, stepping onto the boat.

Fornetz or Halib, or whatever his name was, motioned for Julie to put her bag down in the galley. Julie nodded and flipped around, climbing down into the small interior of the boat.

The inside of the boat was smaller than she expected. It was only about half of the front of the ship. Curiously, she opened a trap door type flap near the front of the little boat. Inside, there were at least a dozen barrels of something. She wondered how the little boat kept balance.

There was a single cot lying against the side of boat, underneath a small window. The other side was a large wooden table with two rough cut chairs, probably used by the sailors during rough weather.

"Cosy, isn't it?" a voice said behind her.

Julie, hiding all the excitement that she felt at the fact that Xavier was finally speaking to her in a language she could understand, shrugged and nodded, setting her bag on the table.

"We'll be arriving at our destination later tonight. I suggest that you try and get some rest today." He turned, preparing to climb back up the ladder and leave her again. She saw her chance at human interaction slipping away.

"Eck-zayv-her!" she exclaimed, exasperated that he was leaving her yet again. She knew he was angry at her, but she got enough of the silent treatment from everyone else; she wasn't about to be alienated by the one person outside her family who actually talked to her. "Pah-lhease eck-spl-hain. Yhou owe m-he."

"I _owe_ you?" Xavier asked lowly, his eyes hardening until they looked like chips of polished ebony. "I didn't ask you to come on this mission, you stowed away. I don't _owe_ you anything."

Julie's face immediately went bright red. He was right, of course; he didn't owe her anything. But she wasn't her brother's sister for nothing, and if there was one thing the Delainë's were famous for, it was their desire to get exactly what they wanted.

"N-ho, yhou d-hon't," she agreed. "B-hut Ah ahm ask-hing yhou as a fer-hend t-ho t-hell m-he what we ahre d-ho-hing." Julie couldn't help but notice that even though he wasn't in a good frame of mind with her, he still listened to her entire sentence, no matter how long it took or how ugly her voice was. It reaffirmed her feelings towards Xavier. He was a good man. She didn't want him to die.

"It probably would be safer," Xavier conceded grudgingly. "I didn't want to get you too involved, but you've involved yourself anyway, and you've made it this far" – was that a slight note of admiration Julie heard in his voice, or was she putting things there that weren't? – "so you should know where we're going.

"Fornetz has agreed to take Baranas' wine up the river to Del'Moco. On the way, he's going to drop us off several leagues up the river. We're then going to walk to a small village and rest for the day before I go and free Devon."

"How?" Julie noticed that she wasn't included in the actual rescue of Devon, but she let it slide.

Xavier shrugged. "It's rather simple, actually. I've brought enough gold with me to bribed the guard. My brother had already sent one of his men to tell Devon to meet me at the south wall in two night's time. If all goes as planned, we'll slip out unnoticed, get picked up by Fornetz on his way back, and be home before the week is out."

Julie nodded and touched her fingers to her chin, then dropping them. _Thank you._

"Now that I've answered your questions, I have a couple of my own," Xavier said.

Julie nodded. It was only fair. Her voice was starting to hurt, though.

"Why did you leave?"

Julie looked at him strangely. Hadn't they been over this once before? She cleared her throat. "Ah ahm here t-ho help yhou-"

"Bullshit."

Julie was shocked. Not by his language, she knew he was a soldier first and foremost, and the fact that was comfortable enough around not to curb his language was strangely flattering. But Julie was shocked by his immediate dismissal.

"That's why you came with me," he continued lowly, "not why you left."

She stared at him, her jaw hanging open, but recognising a nugget of truth in his words. She _had_ used him as a sort of excuse, she just hadn't realised it until now.

He looked at her expectantly, his one eyebrow raised. She sat down on the cot, wrapping her arms around her like she was cold. Could she tell him? She barely understood it herself.

"Ah j-hust wahnt t-ho bhe m-he," she confessed slowly, looking anywhere but directly at Xavier.

"What do you mean?" Xavier asked, leaning a hip on the table. They heard the rustling of a sail being raised and a smooth lunge forward. Julie wanted to go up on deck and forget all about this embarrassing conversation, but she knew that he would not let her go without answering his questions. They were very similar in that way.

"Juliette?" he prompted softly when she didn't answer.

She cleared her throat, wishing that she sounded anything like she did. How could Xavier even stand talking to her when her voice was so gruff and mannish? "Aht Dhel-hain-hee," she began, trying to push it up into feminine tones to no avail, "Ah whas a d-holl. Ah whas per-hitty, b-hut Ah had n-ho m-hind ohf mah own. Ah c-hame t-ho Duh-rhoo-rhee hope-hing" – her voice cracked and became even hoarser, but now that she had started, she couldn't seem to stop herself from getting it all off her chest – "f-hor n-hew st-hart. B-hut n-ho."

She gave Xavier a slightly ironic look. "Ah ahm n-hot st-hoop-hid. Ev-her-hee one th-hinks Ah ahm, b-hut Ah'm n-hot. Ah n-ho mah ber-hoth-her; who he ihs. Ah n-ho Eh-ric m-hade m-he w-helc-home. He ber-hibe yhou?"

His silence was all the answer she needed. Everything had just come together in her mind and the thought made sense, although she had hoped that he would deny it. She closed her eyes against the pain in her chest that wasn't entirely due to her aching lungs. She really was stupid. Xavier never really wanted to be with her, her brother had forced him to do it. Normally she would be furious at her brother, but all that resounded in her chest was an odd hollowness.

"Mah ber-hoth-her help m-he ahll mah l-hife," she continued so softly she could barely hear herself. "Ah whant-hed t-ho help s-hom-one t-ho sh-how mah st-her-hength. Ah whant-hed…" Her voice completely gave out, but how much was due to exhaustion and how much was due to the lump in her throat, she wasn't sure.

She took off her hat and dug her fingers into her short hair, feeling as though she was going to fly into a million pieces. Not even the rocking of the boat soothed her jangled nerves. She gritted her teeth to keep from crying.

She jerked a little when she felt Xavier's hand on her shoulder and instinctively looked up at him before she could stop herself.

"I realise you feel sheltered," he told her, his face serious, "but that's no reason to deliberately throw yourself in harm's way." He dropped to one knee in front of her, wincing slightly, causing a sympathetic pain in Julie's chest. "Everyone who knows you knows your strength." A hint of a grin turned the corners of his lips up. "I felt it first hand," he said, feeling his cheek with his fingertips.

"Ah'm s-horr-hee," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

He waved away her apology as he stood, pushing hard on his thighs to lever himself up. "All I'm saying is that I would hate for you to get hurt merely to prove a point, especially to your brother. He does love you, you know. He even told me you were his greatest treasure."

Julie linked her forefingers together and pulled hard, trying to convey her thoughts through her hands.

"I know you feel as though you're dependent on him," Xavier said, "but in truth, you have to be. You will never speak as others do." Julie's eyes lowered at the blunt truth. "But that doesn't stop you from being yourself. Your brother is just trying to open those doors so that you can be free to do so. You understand what I'm trying to say?"

She nodded slowly.

His lips quirked again. "Then you do realise that your brother is going to kill me when we get back to Drewery."

Julie shook her head, smiling shakily. She pointed to him with one finger and held it up, then pointed to herself with the opposite finger and set it in front, like a guard.

"You'll protect me?" he asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded and he laughed. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid your brother will probably lock you up as soon as he sees you again."

Julie shrugged and nodded, her nose wrinkling in her silent laughter.

…

"What took you so long?" Zander asked, lounging near a street lamp as Lauren scurried towards him.

"I had to find my other boot," she said, lifting her skirt and showing him the miscreant shoe. "I finally found it underneath a pile of laundry."

Zander swept a long look up her leg to her hip, before pushing off the pole and starting down the street. Lauren fell into step with him, trying to ignore the flush of emotions that tingled down her spine at his look.

"So," she asked, "where are we going?"

"Just to my carriage over here," he said, pointing her towards a small curricle that was parked in the shadows of the road.

Lauren grinned and couldn't help but jibe him a little. "You mean you actually own a carriage? And here I thought you simply walked everywhere."

"Being prince does have its advantages," Zander said flippantly, helping her into the carriage. He patted the roof right before climbing in and the carriage started forward with the slightest lurch.

"I'm sure," Lauren replied, "like bathing and the like, things us mere peasants can only dream of."

Zander raised an arrogant eyebrow at Lauren. "Plus, I even get to eat off of clean plates."

"Please stop," Lauren said, giggling. "The jealousy and envy is overtaking my heart. I might have to go home and end my life in a dirty pile of laundry."

"It would be a shame to mar something so pretty with something as crude as a knife," Zander said. "Make sure you use a quiet type of poison."

Lauren snorted. "Perhaps I should marry Lord Stone. Dying of boredom is probably one of the most flattering to one's complexion."

"Lord Stone?"

Lauren made a face. "He's my mother's fancy. I guess she thinks he's 'attainable' for someone like me. I think that if Stone really is my final choice, I might just go the way of poison."

"I wouldn't blame you," Zander said.

The rocking of the carriage nearly made Lauren hit her head on the side of the box, but she kept her balance and sighed dramatically. "I guess I shall be a confirmed spinster for the rest of my life."

"An admirable choice."

Lauren gave him a bemused glance. "I though you might appreciate the sentiment."

"We're very much alike, you and I," Zander told her. "And since we have both claimed that we will cling fast to our status of unmarriagedness, I see nothing preventing us from being friends."

Lauren giggled again. "Is unmarriagedness even a word?"

Zander gave her a look that said he really didn't appreciate her critiquing of his language. "I will make it a word."

"Another perk?" Lauren murmured unrepentantly.

Zander made a face as though he wanted to be annoyed, but chuckled instead. "Point," he ceded to her, then held out his hand. "Friends?"

An inner glow suffusing her insides, making her grin until her cheeks ached, made her accept his hand. "Friends."

The carriage rocked to a stop, and Zander opened the door to poke his head out.

"It seems we're here," he said before hopping out and extending his hand to help her down as well.

"And where might here be?" Lauren asked, skilfully avoiding dipping her dress in a rather large puddle. She looked up at the darkened townhouse in front of her. It had a couple broken window shutters, and looked as though it could use a good washing, she didn't see anything particularly remarkable about the place.

Zander didn't answer, but instead, knocked the large brass knocker on the door.

An elderly man answered, surprising Lauren. She didn't think someone who lived in such modest estate would have servants.

"Yes?" the butler intoned.

"Is Lord Delainë in?" Zander asked.

The butler gave Zander a long look over. Zander seemed unperturbed.

"Is he expecting you?" he finally asked.

"Probably," Zander said, giving the butler a grin.

The butler sighed and turned, allowing Zander and Lauren to follow him.

"Lord Delainë?" Lauren hissed to Zander as they followed the old man down the hall. "As in Eric Delainë? As in my cousin Julie's brother Delainë?"

Zander shrugged. "He's the only Lord Delainë I'm aware of, unless there's another one hidden somewhere."

Delainë was standing by his desk, wearing a smock and pants, but no shoes.

"Is there some reason you're getting me out of my willing wife's arms in the middle of the night?" Delainë asked with no hiding of the menace in his voice. "Hello Lauren. It's nice to see you; you're looking well."

"Hello to you too, Eric," Lauren replied in a daze.

"It's hardly the middle of the night," Zander replied. "And I felt it pertinent that I bring something to your attention sooner rather than later."

"Yes?" Delainë raised his black eyebrows, his blue eyes fixing Zander with a penetrating stare. Zander again appeared unruffled.

"I've been wondering about the night my brother was abducted," Zander started off. He shot Delainë a knowing look. "You must remember. Your sister was abducted along with him."

Delainë said nothing, but gave Zander a condescending look, so Zander continued.

"Now, I wondered why _the_ Lord Delainë, the Devil Duke who has sold his soul to more people than I have gold coins, if half the rumours are to be believed, would not know about this plot, even though he has spies and tendrils of his business in all the dealings of Drewery's underworld? Then I found out that the man who organized the kidnapping was an old associate of yours. Winters, I believe."

Zander let a slow smile creep across his face. "The man is very talkative when drunk, and, unfortunately, let the whole tale spill. So here we are."

"Would you like a reward for figuring it out?" Delainë asked sarcastically. "It truly was a simple plot. I was surprised it took you so long."

"Yes, well, I had to let you think you were winning at one point," Zander said, his eyes hardening. "I'm just curious as to why you did it? Why did you kidnap your own sister?"

Delainë shrugged. "You said it yourself, I am steeped in corruption and darkness. Jules is a shining light that I don't want to put out. I don't want her in this life, or to have any part of it."

Understanding dawned on Zander. "You wanted my brother to marry her."

Delainë nodded and sat down on the edge of the desk. "Seemed appropriate at the time. I figured if I could keep them both together long enough, he'd be honour bound to ask for her hand, even if just to save her reputation."

"What if Jules didn't want to marry Xavier?" Lauren asked, aghast.

Delainë shrugged again. "Then she'd say no. I was not forcing her to marry, I was merely providing the opportunity."

"That's despicable!"

A flash of white shone through Delainë's dark beard as he gave her a rueful grin. "I'm a despicable sort of man, my dear Lauren. I am surprised you hadn't realised that by now."

"But soon, Xavier will be free," Zander said. "You know that Julie would never speak to you again if she knew how badly you manipulated her."

Delainë's eyes narrowed as he turned his attention to the prince. "Are you blackmailing me?"

"Of course not," Zander said. "I am merely stating fact. Xavier will finish out his contract, with no further interference by you, and then he will be free to act of his own accord."

"I warn you not to match swords with me," Delainë threatened lowly.

Zander looked him straight in the eye. "You do not hold a monopoly in the espionage market," he returned, just as seriously. "You of all people should know my influence. I warn _you_, I would be a serious adversary."

Delainë gave Zander an appraising look, but then nodded, if not admirably, then at least respectfully. "Then we understand each other."

Zander nodded back. "That we do. We will be going now."

"Fine. Take care, Lauren." Delainë turned on his heel and walked back out a side door.

Zander took Lauren's elbow, as her jaw was still hanging around her knees, and began leading her out of the house.

"I can't believe it!" she exploded as soon as she sat down in the carriage. "That Eric would stoop so low. I could throttle him!" The crack of a wipe was heard and the team started forward.

An amused smile crossed Zander's face. "I don't think his wife would be very appreciative of your murderous efforts, although I myself applaud them."

"It doesn't matter," Lauren fumed. "Dhatri should keep a leash on that man."

"I am sorry you had to have your cousin disillusioned for you in such a way," Zander said.

"No," Lauren said, her anger abating, "it was alright. I think I needed to see that. Why did you bring me along, anyway?"

"Honestly? I wasn't sure that Delainë wouldn't just kill me right there, and I needed a witness." He shrugged. "Either that, or he would of challenged me to a duel, and I would need a second."

"Why would you need a second?" Lauren asked, confused.

"I believe I told you once, I cannot duel," Zander replied, lifting his eyebrows at her.

"I though you were joking," she said.

Zander shook his head. "Unfortunately not. When I was younger, I could barely pick up a stick without gauging myself in the eye. I would hate to see what would happen if I held something sharper. Xavier got all the skill in that area."

He grinned at her. "My mother used to say that she was glad we were twins, and thus our attributes were divided. With Xavier's skill with a blade and honest sincerity, and my charismatic charm and debonair good looks, Mother would have had to beat back the women with a stick."

Lauren laughed at the image.

The curricle stopped in front of Lauren's hotel.

Zander stepped out to help Lauren down, but didn't let go of her hand even after she had both feet firmly on the ground.

"The local theatre troupe is putting on another performance tomorrow in the square," he said. "Would you be interested in joining me?"

"Of course," Lauren said warmly. "Their last one was so humorous, I nearly choked on my laughter."

"Perfect. I shall pick you up just after noon." He leaned in a little bit closer to her. "Can I kiss you goodnight?"

Lauren's knees went wobbly at that. "Do you kiss all your friends goodnight?" she asked, although her voice went a little breathy.

"Only the pretty ones," he responded, giving her a cat-like grin, "which right now, consists of mainly you."

"Well then," she replied, "I'd hate for any of your other friends to miss out. I mean, once you've kissed one, you're going to have to kiss them all –"

Lauren's words were cut short by the descent of Zander's mouth onto hers. She couldn't really protest. In fact, she couldn't really do much but close her eyes and loop her arms around his neck. The man really did know how to kiss. Her knees went from jelly straight to butter.

She could have stood there and kissed him all day, or night in this case, but Zander gently pulled away from her.

Lauren's arms dropped to twist her skirt in her hands. "Um…" she stammered, her face beet red.

"See you tomorrow," Zander said, climbing into the carriage. "Sleep well."

Lauren stood in the street for a good minute after he disappeared, a grin making her cheeks ache, before the cold got the better of her and she hurried inside.


	14. Complications

Weirdest thing ever happened to me the other day. I was riding the bus home from college and sitting a couple of seats down from me was a guy who was super familiar. I stared at him without really staring at him, if you know what I mean, trying to determine where I knew him from. Then it hit me. He looked almost exactly how I pictured Xavier/Zander. Which opened up a whole new realm of questions. Was I secretly stalking him? Did I know him from somewhere else and that's why he was in my head? Was he anything like Xavier or Zander? He got off a couple of stops before me, meaning he does live near me, so maybe I went to school with him at one point.

Anyway, on a different note, this story is probably going to be over in a chapter or two. I don't know what I'm going to do next, but I might go post my Nanowrimo story over on fictionpress. I haven't looked at it since December, so I will probably have some serious editing to do. It's pretty much completely different than these stories, except for maybe my writing style, cause I think it's really hard to change that.

The two things Xavier says are translated literally as 'Come you' (which islike 'come on'. You'll understand it in context) and 'good morning)

See you next chapter.

-Lulai

Chapter Fourteen: Complications

"We're here," Fornetz told Xavier in Equilian as he lowered the heavy metal anchor so it disappeared into the still black water below. "You had better go wake the boy."

"Of course," Xavier replied. "Thank you."

The sun had set several hours earlier, but the western portion of the sky was still lighter than the eastern section. Xavier put the daggers he had been sharpening back into his rucksack and set it aside before climbing down into the galley to awaken Julie.

When he arrived at the bottom, however, he had to stop and simply look at her.

Julie was sound asleep on the cot, facing towards the inside of the room, a rough woollen blanket tangled around her legs. One bare foot poked out of the bottom of the blanket, over the edge of the cot. Xavier's gaze slid upward. A pale strip of flesh was exposed where her shirt had ridden high, showing the soft curve of her waist flaring into a nicely rounded hip.

He remembered how perfectly her hip fit into his hand, and he forced his gaze higher, pushing the idea out of his head. One arm was tucked underneath her cheek while the other dangled with her leg over the side, her expressive hands still for the moment. Her nails were all bitten, a couple were even bloody.

His eyes grazing over the graceful curve of her neck, he finally examined her face. Her soft lips were parted slightly, her dark lashes fanning her cheeks. Her straight aquiline nose threw the right side of her face into shadow. The short golden blonde locks stood up in the back slightly from where she must have slept on them.

Unable to stop himself, Xavier brushed his hand lightly over her soft hair, feeling as though he had been cheated out of something valuable that he never got to experience.

A raging flame of jealousy tore through him, and he pulled his hand back from her head, curling it into a fist. He had no right to be jealous. Julie had shown no interest in him beyond that of a friend. Despite his internal commands, the fantasy of taking her far away and leaving Devon of Delainë to rot played through his mind.

It didn't make any sense. He didn't have any specific reason for wanting her as badly as he did. She was pretty, beautiful even, but a lot of women he had met had been just as attractive. She was charming in her own way, but again, so were many other women.

It was something else, some internal energy that drew him to her. Julie's unique mixture of optimism, self doubt, and kindness made Xavier simultaneously want to hurt anyone who had slighted her, and kiss her until she knew her own self-worth.

But she wasn't meant for him.

"Juliette," he murmured, shaking her shoulder.

Julie took a large breath through her nose as she awakened, stretching her legs as she pointed her toes straight down.

"Mmph?" Julie groaned as she opened her blue eyes and blinked at him blearily.

"We're at the drop off spot," he told her. "You need to collect your things so we can leave."

Julie nodded and rolled onto her back before stretching her arms above her head. The movement caused her shirt to shift, exposing the dimple of her navel.

Xavier's hands curled into fists again, his fingers itching to find out if her skin felt as soft as it looked.

"Meet me on deck," he said, his voice clipped, before climbing back up the ladder.

Julie looked after Xavier in confusion, sitting up in the cot, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

_What was that all about?_ she asked the table across the way from her.

_I have no idea,_ the table replied.

Julie didn't either. His body language suggested he was angry, but his eyes said something completely different. They had been dark and warm and… hungry?

Julie shook her head. It was dark; she had probably misread him. Now, where were her shoes?

She patted the floor beside her until her hand came in contact with her boots. She pulled out her socks from where they were shoved down inside and pulled them on her bare feet.

After gathering her things, and scarfing down a piece of that delicious fried bread, she made her way up onto deck where Xavier stood waiting for her. At least he didn't look angry anymore.

The just of half moon cast a pale glow over a small lagoon where the boat had dropped anchor.

Xavier spoke to her in Equilian, but demonstrated with his hands that they were going to have to jump onto an outcropping of rocks that lead onto land. His voice was low, as if afraid to be louder than the gentle rushing of the river.

Julie swallowed sharply at the thought of falling into the dark water, but nodded.

Xavier shook the Captain's hand and thanked him. Fornetz nodded and said something quietly to Xavier, to which Xavier nodded.

Shrugging on his packsack, Xavier stepped over the guard rail near the stern of the boat. With the utmost grace, he leaped from the ship, landing on a large flat rock that was closest to the hull of the ship.

"_Yacat er,_" Xavier motioned to her and proceeded to leap from the first rock to the next.

Julie crouched down in front of the guard rail, holding the edge of the boat with both hands. For a small boat, it looked awfully far down to that rock, not to mention that the rock looked slippery, and there was a lot of dark water surrounding it.

Pushing down the nervous nausea that was threatening to claw its way out of her throat, Julie focused on landing on the rock. Slowly, she sat down on the edge of the boat, dangling her feet over the edge, and then pushed herself off, landing in a crouched position on the rock.

Julie let out a sigh of relief, and a triumphant feeling replaced the nausea, her lips unconsciously turning up into a grin. She stood and began hopping the rocks after Xavier.

Unfortunately, either through cockiness, or the fact that her good luck ran out, on the last rock, she slipped, and her foot splashed into the water. She pulled it out quickly, but the damage had already been done, and she could feel the cold water seep into her sock.

She scowled. That was all she needed: a wet foot.

A final step and she was on the rocky beach where Xavier was waiting for her. He nodded at her, then gave a brief wave to the boat, where the Captain was just a black figure before turning and walking into the sparse woods. Julie fell into step beside him.

Three silent hours later, Julie was wallowing in misery. Her wet foot was developing several painful blisters, and her lungs were on fire. She wanted to call a reprieve, but she was positive that if she stopped, she would never be able to start again. So she began concentrating solely on her breathing and the rhythm it made with her walking. In, out. Step, step. In, out. Step, step.

"Juliette?"

Julie flashed a look up into Xavier's face. The shadows of the trees made his features nearly indistinguishable, but she could still see enough to see that he looked concerned.

"Are you okay?"

Julie nodded and gave him the most reassuring smile she could. However, when they walked into a slight clearing, and the moon shone its glow onto Xavier's face, Julie was surprised to see a small amount of perspiration on his brow and upper lip. It made her feel a little better that she was keeping up with him, that she wasn't the only one exhausted.

The sky was starting to lighten in the east when they finally happened across the village.

Julie looked around. To call it a village was probably pretty generous. There seemed to be about three houses arranged in a horseshoe plus a barn and what looked like a mill.

Two men came out of the barn, herding in front of them two cows and a couple of sheep.

"_Pualo denalli,_" Xavier called out to them. Both men looked up and, after shutting the barn door behind them, began walking over to the travellers.

Julie stared at the men. They were positively enormous! They were both taller than Xavier as broad as oak barrels. As they came closer, it was apparent that they were either father and son, or else there was a major age gap between two brothers. Julie was betting on the former.

The two men looked mighty suspicious, even after Xavier began talking to them in their native tongue.

Julie kept her mouth firmly buttoned and tried to look meek and servile, especially after seeing the glinting of a short dagger in the younger man's waistband.

A woman exited the house, a baby sitting in a sort of sling across her chest, an urn in her other hand, obviously going to a well near the middle of the ring of houses to fetch water. As soon as she saw the foursome, however, she stopped and headed towards them.

The younger man glared at the woman, and said something sharply to her. The woman gave him a retort, and the man look chastened, while the older man looked as though he was barely refraining from smiling.

The woman turned to Xavier and asked him a question, to which Xavier responded. Julie wished for the umpteenth time she knew the language, but instead concentrated on remaining standing through her exhaustion.

Apparently, whatever Xavier told the woman seemed to be the right thing, for all three of the villagers relaxed, and the woman even smiled at him.

Julie was shuffled along with Xavier into the biggest of the houses which consisted of only two rooms, a kitchen/living type room and a bedroom.

While the men offered Xavier a drink of some kind, the woman handed a bowl of what looked like stew into Julie's hands while Julie sat by the wall, barely keeping her eyes open.

Julie looked at the woman in surprise, then nodded her thanks. She took the first bite, and managed to burn her tongue. Spitting it out instinctively, Julie looked up afraid that she had insulted her hosts. She took another spoon and blew on it to show what the problem was.

The woman laughed and asked her a question. Julie's eyes flickered to Xavier who gave a barely perceptible nod. Julie nodded and took another bite, finding this one cooler, and much better tasting.

She ate the stew slowly, her eyes closing a couple times, until she was scraping the bottom of the bowl. Pulling up her knees, Julie rested her arms on them, and lay her head down on her arms. She was swiftly asleep.

…

Lauren sailed into her suite on a cloud of happiness. The afternoon had been completely wonderful. After the play, Zander had escorted her through the market, spending money as though it were water, and generally being friendly to everyone who's path they crossed.

After buying her a bag of small rings of sugared bread from a vendor who assured Zander that his 'Ringos' were the best in the kingdom, they made their way back to her hotel, strolling slowly down the lane. Although she was glad to be spending the time with him, and she didn't mind walking in the least, Lauren couldn't help but jibe him a slightly.

"And I thought we had made an improvement last night," she teased. "You did prove to me that you own a carriage, so you can't go back on that now."

Zander sighed. "Most women I escort around are fawning over me, hanging off my every word, not to mention complementing my manly physique. But you, darling Lauren, can only complain that we walk too much."

Lauren giggled. "It's a little wonder that you walk everywhere," she said. "You probably aren't able to fit into a carriage with such a large ego."

A martyred look came over Zander's features as he laid a hand on his breast. "One that deflates a little more every time I'm around you, my lady."

"Perhaps in a couple of visits, you might be able to come through the front door," Lauren said without thinking.

"Perhaps," Zander said, his face going serious.

Lauren scowled, pushing her hair back from her face angrily. "I honestly don't know what's gotten into my mother, refusing to let me see you while pushing Lord Stone at me so hard, I'm surprised she hasn't injured her back."

"She is probably worried for you," he said.

"She has probably gone insane," Lauren scoffed. A slightly pained look wrinkled her brow. "She says she doesn't see what your interest in me would be," she said, a trace of hurt evident in her voice.

"I'm surprised that she doesn't know how charming and intelligent you are," Zander replied. He looked at her and grinned. "But I'm not surprised that she doesn't appreciate your rear."

Lauren flushed, but came back with, "I was hoping she'd appreciate yours."

"A complement on my physique," Zander said, the little sparkly gold bits in his brown eyes glittering brightly with laughter. "Now we just need you to hang off my every word and do a little more fawning and we'd be set."

"Dream on, Prince Arrogance," Lauren laughed.

They stopped a little ways from Lauren's hotel.

"I kissed Landon this morning," Zander announced. "Or, at least, I tried to."

"What?" Lauren gaped.

Zander shrugged and adopted an innocent expression. "You told me that you were afraid my other friends might be jealous if I didn't give them equal treatment. Landon told me, this is the edited version, mind you, that if I ever tried that again, prince or no, he would beat me into next year. I explained the situation to him and he told me to tell you that he would not be jealous in the slightest."

Lauren simply stared at Zander, his lips stretched into a thoroughly smug grin, not quite sure whether he was telling the truth or not. The implication of what he was saying was as clear as day, however.

"Lauren?" Zander inched closer to her until they were almost touching.

Lauren looked up at him, a little bit breathless at his nearness.

"Would you like me to kiss you?"

"Yes," Lauren said, the word slipping out unbidden. She immediately became nervous. "I mean no. Maybe. Um… Can you repeat the question?"

Zander pulled her in close, far too close for Lauren's brain to continue functioning. He smelled good.

Some still sane part of her brain began to protest.

"Zander, wait," she said, backing up slightly so that his scent would stop wreaking havoc with her thought processes. "I don't know if I can do this."

A glossy black brow rose in response to her statement. "Sure you do. Just put your lips on mine, and I'll take it from there."

Lauren shook her head. "I don't mean that, I mean this." She waved her hand around in an all encompassing manner.

The brow lowered as Zander's face took on a confused expression. "This?"

Lauren sighed and placed her hand on his warm chest, feeling the rise and fall of his gentle breathing.

"I can't be just your…" Lauren paused as she searched for the right words, "friend with benefits." She looked up, hoping that she hadn't offended him.

She wasn't prepared for the grin that crossed Zander's face.

"Lauren, honey, I've been trying to court you since that evening at Lord Gellish's."

For the first time in a long time, Lauren was struck speechless.

"But you said last night that we were just friends," Lauren protested, finally achieving some control over her vocal chords.

"I said nothing of the sort, darling," Zander replied with an expression that could only be described as a smirk. "I merely stated fact that we _are_ friends. Many couples are not as amiable towards each other."

Lauren's eyes narrowed. "You are a remarkably devious man, Zander Fer Drewery."

Zander shrugged. "One tries one's best." He pulled her tighter towards him from where she managed to slowly inch away.

"What did you mean when you told Eric that you had your own reputation?" Lauren asked, hoping to stall him a bit for his own punishment.

Giving up trying to pull her closer to him, Zander gave another martyred sigh.

"You're not going to let me kiss you until I answer your questions, aren't you?" he asked accusingly.

Fighting the grin that tugged at the corner of her lips, Lauren nodded.

"The sacrifices men must make."

"Ha!" Lauren snorted. Zander didn't respond and they stood in silence for a couple seconds.

"Everyone knows my brother fought in the war," Zander began abruptly. "Even after Father died, Xavier continued on leading the army until he was injured and had to return home."

"Yes," Lauren responded, nodding.

"Well, what everyone doesn't know is that I too was involved in the war, although not in the same way."

Lauren's eyes were wide with interest. "I thought you said you couldn't pick up a sword," she said, a line forming between her brows.

"It's true, I can't, and I never did," Zander replied, smoothing the frown on her brow with his thumb. "I, however, used my wealth and charm to entrench myself deep in the Equilian ranks. As my brother and I both had a knack for languages, we set about learning Equilian together, Xavier so he could understand the Equilian battle commands, and I so I could find out Equilian secrets."

"You were a spy?" Lauren said, her voice hushed.

Zander gave a little half smile. "Yes, I guess I was. And like Delainë, I also created my own network of underground dealings."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Lauren asked, a little angry. He was as much a hero as his brother, and no one knew about it.

Zander shrugged. "It wasn't that important. Besides, if I told anyone, my cover would have been blown. So I played the partying playboy in order to be able to disappear during parties if need be. Xavier was the only one who knew otherwise."

Lauren shook her head. "Is that what you were doing out in the garden the night Julie was there?"

Zander gave a rueful smile. "Yes. I was meeting one of my informants that night, and, put bluntly, I needed to get your cousin out of the garden."

"Wow," Lauren breathed.

He looked her straight in the eye, the golden flecks disappearing as his eyes hardened. "You do realise you cannot repeat a word of this to anyone?"

"I talk a lot," Lauren snapped, "but I do know when to keep my mouth shut."

"Of that, I have no doubt," Zander said. His posture relaxed back into his normal confident stance, as he pulled her back into close to him. This time, Lauren didn't protest.

"I guess you did answer my question," Lauren admitted, giving him a look of mock regret.

"That's very true."

"And we did have a deal."

"Also true."

"I suppose you are going to want me to hold up my end of the deal now."

"I would appreciate it, yes."

Lauren's heart began beating faster. "Of course, there are those who would say that because the contract was verbal-" Lauren's sentence was cut off by a gasp as Zander dragged his lips up the side of her neck.

"You're talking too much, darling," he whispered.

Lauren couldn't speak if she wanted to, as Zander slid his mouth onto hers, nipping her lower lip.

"Milady?"

Lauren snapped out of her daydream to see Hillary in front of her.

"Oh, sorry," Lauren apologised, "My mind was elsewhere." She hoped Hillary didn't see the flush on her cheeks or her shallow breathing.

"Lauren Fer Grey, come here this instant!"

Lauren bit her lip. "Coming, Mama."

Her mother sat on the couch, her needle point beside her, but her hands were folded stiffly on her lap.

"Just where were you all afternoon?" her mother asked, her jaw tightened angrily.

"Out," Lauren replied shortly.

"You were out with _him_ weren't you?"

"Yes," Lauren snapped, tired of her mother's attitude.

"I distinctly remember forbidding you to see him."

"Why are you so dead set against Zander? Why can't you even give him a chance?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Because I know what it's like to marry above your station," her mother said harshly.

"Don't," Lauren said shortly. "Don't turn Zander into Father. He's not like that."

"All highborn men are like that. They want someone who will keep their bed warm between mistresses," Lady Grey said. "You would do much better by someone like Lord Stone."

"You're wrong," Lauren said, her hands fisting by her sides. "Lord Stone is boring. Lord Stone makes me feel boring. Zander makes me feel wanted."

"For now, maybe."

She looked imploringly at her mother. "Just meet him, Mama. Please."

Her mother looked unconvinced. "Perhaps."

Lauren turned on her heel and stomped away into her room and flung herself down on the bed, smothering her face in her pillow, and letting out all her anger in a fierce scream.

Rolling onto her back, she wiped away a tear at the corner of her eye. "Oh Jules, come back soon," she whispered. "I miss you so much."

…

It was early evening when Julie awoke again. Her back was cold from being pressed against the wall, so she shifted forward until her nose bumped into something warm and firm. Her eyes flew open.

Xavier lay sleeping, his back to her. She raised her head and saw that was in the bedroom section of one of the houses, but wasn't quite sure how she got there. The last thing she remembered was listening to Xavier and the men talking and closing her eyes for a couple of minutes. She must have fallen asleep and Xavier had carried her to bed.

Julie was slightly disappointed that she wasn't conscious enough to enjoy it.

She could see why he had position himself like he did, though. Already some of the men had settled in for the evening. Julie was touched; Xavier protected her even as they slept.

Xavier shifted in his sleep, murmuring something. Julie frowned, placing a hand on his back. Heat radiated off him. Alarmed, she moved her hand up to his neck, then his cheek, then finally his forehead. He was burning up.

He didn't even awaken under her ministrations. It was just as Julie feared, he had pushed himself beyond his limits and had a relapse.

Julie pushed herself up and stepped over Xavier to try and find help.

The woman was sitting cross-legged beside a small basket with her child sleeping in it, mending a smock of one of the men, humming softly.

Julie came up to her and knelt down, gesturing urgently. The woman looked at her curiously. Julie motioned for the woman to follow her.

She lead the woman to where Xavier lay. The woman knelt down and felt Xavier's forehead. She said something to Julie in rapid Equilian, but Julie shook her head and lifted her hands to show that she didn't understand. The woman frowned and spoke slower and more enunciated as if it would make Julie understand.

Julie wanted to cry in frustration. One of the men from a nearby cot snapped something to the woman, to which she replied forcibly. The man snorted and rolled back over.

The woman cupped her hands and repeated one word, trying to make Julie understand, "_Maho_. _Maho._"

Julie shook her head, tears in her eyes.

The woman frowned. "Wat? Watar?"

Understanding dawned on Julie and she nodded vigorously, as a big weight lifted off her chest. She grabbed an earthenware bowl and ran out towards the well. Setting down the bowl, she pulled on the rope to bring up the bucket.

Balancing the bowl, Julie made her way back inside. The woman took the bowl with a nod of thanks, and proceeded to sprinkle some herbs she had obviously gathered while Julie was outside into it while Julie stood around nervously.

The woman's husband came in.

The two had a quiet conversation with much gesturing towards Xavier. The man finally turned towards Julie and motioned for her to come along with him.

Julie shook her head, pointing to herself, then to Xavier, trying to convey that she needed to stay with him. The man frowned and then motioned for her to come with him again.

Julie shook her head. She figured maybe another excuse might work. She pulled off her right shoe and sock, showing him the blisters that she received from her wet boot.

He examined her blisters, then nodded. Julie smiled, glad that they had come to an understanding. She pulled her sock and boot back on, as the man waited patiently. As soon as she was done, the man bend down and hauled her over his shoulder.

Julie couldn't believe it. She pounded on his back, trying to convey the message that she wanted down, but the man ignored her. Gritting her teeth against her fear, she decided she had no choice but to go wherever the man was taking her.


	15. Nothing Left

Yes, I know you all believed I had died. Well, I did die. Or, proabably more accurately, my complete and utter interest in this story sort of died. But, I came across it one day, and I hate having "unfinished business" (said in a really villian-y type voice) so I threw together what I had half-formulated in my head. So, yes, it is rushed. But it was this or probably nothing. I really appreciate all the encouraging reveiws though!

I'm not sure what my next story will be, but chances are it'll be over on under this same pen name.

later!

-Lulai

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Nothing Left

Zander was sitting at his desk, pouring over some odd papers that didn't make sense to anyone but him, when the butler knocked on the door.

"Come," he replied, not looking up from his desk.

"Announcing Lady Elaine Fer Grey," he intoned, causing Zander to lift his head in surprise. Lauren's mother? Here?

"Welcome, Lady Grey," Zander said smoothly, hiding his surprise behind a cool face. "I wasn't expecting you."

She sniffed and took her seat in a chair that he motioned to.

"To be honest, I didn't think I was going to come," she said, looking down her nose at him. "But my daughter has a strange notion in her head that you and her are an item, and I've come to nip that idea in the bud."

"I beg your pardon, my lady," Zander said, sitting back down on the other side of the desk, "but I do not see where you come into this. Lauren is a grown woman, and able to make her own decisions." Ah, so she was here to scare him away. That made a little more sense.

"As her mother, however, I feel responsible for her happiness." Lady Grey gave Zander such a glare, he was certain he started to smell his hair burning. "I will not have my daughter's heart broken simply because her husband cannot keep his stallion in the same stall, if I may be blunt."

The prince's expression hardened. "You may, and if I may equally blunt, I don't understand how you can be so distrustful of your own daughter, that you think her to stupid to know when to trust someone and when not to. I have never given any indication that I want anyone _but_ your daughter. Furthermore, in my case, you can be assured that I am not merely marrying for status, whereas Lord Stone is a well documented social climber."

He stood. "Truth is, I enjoy Lauren's company, I revel in her wit, and I'm attracted to her. The only reason I have not asked for her hand is because she is too tender-hearted, and wishes you and I to be on terms." He levelled an assessing glance at Lauren's mother. "Do not think that I am above manipulating the situation into my advantage. I love Lauren, and would prefer not to do it, but believe me when I say that she _will_ be my wife before the season's out."

Lady Grey looked rather shaken at his intensity. "Then I don't think we have anything else to say on the matter."

"Agreed. Landon will show you the door. Have a pleasant afternoon, Lady Grey."

…

Julie had stopped struggling and was merely trying not to eject her stomach of its contents. She wasn't quite sure how much of her nausea was due to the jostling over the shoulder of the man who was carrying her, and how much was due to pure, unadulterated terror. It was probably the latter, a nice, clinically detached section of her brain surmised.

After about an hour or so of gut-wrenching fear, though, it seemed to almost be a permanent part of her, and in truth, Julie started to get a little bored.

There wasn't really much to look at. It wasn't like the Drewery Forests, where the trees were crowded together, tall, and with an almost strangling amount of underbrush. The forests here were all evergreen, spaced out, with very flat ground underneath. Her thoughts began to wander, despite her predicament.

It seemed to be Julie's fate to travel by night. She hadn't seen the light of day in a while, and while that was nice (as she had quite an aversion to burning) she was also kind of missed the brightness of day.

She missed her girl clothes. She knew that many women found men's clothing to be more comfortable, and she had to agree with that, but she enjoyed being pretty. It was the one thing she was good at.

She wondered how Lauren was doing. She hoped that she hadn't given Lauren too much of a scare when she left. Was Prince Zander still annoying her?

She hoped Xavier lived the night.

This last thought caused her to frown, and she began to nibble on her thumbnail, ignoring the salty flavour of it. He had survived a fever before, but that was when his body was strong.

She glared at the back of the head of the man who was carrying her. She should be by Xavier's side right now, not being toted like a sack of potatoes in the dead of night.

The man dumped her unceremoniously on the ground, surprising a low grunt out of her.

The man issued a sharp command, pointing to a rock. Julie didn't need to understand the language to know that the man was telling her to stay put. She sat, although what she really wanted to do was run as fast as she could back to the village.

_If he wanted you dead, you'd be dead right now,_ the rock said to her as she sat down. _He wouldn't have carried you for three hours just to kill you._

_I know,_ Julie replied. _I just wish I could be with Xavier._

_I'm sure he's being taken care of._

Julie wasn't so positive. The woman did seem nice, and Julie was sure that she would do everything in her power to help Xavier, but she just wanted to be there.

So Julie sat. And waited. And waited. And waited some more.

The minutes crept by slowly, as Julie twiddled her thumbs, wondering why in the world she was there, not back at the village.

The man appeared suddenly from behind a tree.

"_Yacat_," he whispered harshly. Julie recognised that word and rose from her rocky perch. The sooner she got whatever he wanted over with, the sooner she could get back to Xavier. She realised that her mind was rather single tracked, but she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if he died.

She followed the crouched figure of the man, limping almost as much as Xavier, until they reached a large clearing in the middle of the forest.

Julie couldn't believe it. It looked as though it had at one time been, perhaps, a farm, but now it was just a group of large dirty grey tents that practically glowed in the moonlight. Guarding the encampment was a ditch that was at least ten feet deep and several feet across. Julie was almost impressed. Instead of building a wall, they merely dug one.

The man whispered something into her bad ear, and Julie leaned in to hear better, motioning to the other side of her head.

The man merely shook his head and pointed at one side of the encampment.

Julie strained her eyes to see what he was motioning at, until she saw a lone figure sliding down the one side of the ditch. She nodded, and motioned questioningly if they were going to go help the man.

The man started off, running in a crouch towards where the man waited at the bottom of the ditch. Julie followed him, feeling ridiculously exposed in the stark moonlight. They ended up lying belly down in the dirt, hanging over the edge of the ditch slightly.

The man began whispering in the darkness, sounding at the same time hushed and loud.

The man in the ditch whispered back, creeping towards them slowly.

Julie looked back and forth between them. The man in the ditch sounded suspicious, and Julie didn't blame him. The man who had carried her was starting to sound a little desperate, and in a final flourish, pointed quite strongly at Julie.

The man's eyes widened, and then in the moonlight, Julie recognised him.

"Jul – "

She motioned with her finger over her mouth.

_Julian, right now, Devon,_ she signed to him. _Come on. I don't know how long we have._

Both Julie and the farmer stretched out their hands, shifting until they were leaning over the edge to their waists. Devon ran up the wall slightly, and jumped, catching their hands, and with a mighty pull from the both of them, they managed to get most of Devon over the lip of the ditch. He was able to pull himself the rest of the way up.

They stood up before Devon pulled her into a fierce hug, one that Julie returned.

Not a second later, though, the man from the village motioned to the both of them to follow him. Julie looked around for any hint of a guard, or that they'd been seen. Whether it was Xavier's gold, or pure dumb luck, there seemed to be no one in sight.

The man lifted Julie over his shoulder again before she could protest. Devon looked about to say something, but Julie shook her head.

_My feet are blistered raw. There is no way I can walk all the way to the village_, she signed.

Devon nodded.

They made their way back to the village in silence. Julie worried for Devon. He looked so frail, she was almost afraid that he would drop dead before they made it back.

It was an eternity later when they finally re-entered the group of houses.

_Devon,_ she signed, waving to get his attention. _Tell this man to take you to the lagoon of the river._

_What about you?_ he signed back.

_I must stay here,_ she replied. _Prince Xavier is quite ill, and needs my help._

_Prince Xavier_? Devon signed, surprise written all over his face.

She nodded. _When he heard that you were one of the ones held captive, he came to rescue you, but unfortunately, had a relapse of fever._

_But you cannot stay alone!_

She shook her head firmly. _No. The Equilians will be looking for you, but they won't notice a sick man and a deaf-mute._

He started to say something again, but she placed her fingers over his.

_My mind's made up, Devon,_ she signed. _If you were recaptured, Xavier would tear the country apart looking for you, and most likely be killed in the process. I cannot let that happen. And besides, you can barely stand. You must leave. Now._

He protested for a little longer, but finally acquiesced and let the man lead him away.

Julie watched him until he disappeared into the trees, before returning to the house where the woman was watching Xavier. Her chest felt oddly hollow, as if her heart was numb. She pulled her hat off and threw it in the corner before limping over to where her prince was sleeping on the floor, the woman kneeling beside him, humming to her child as she rocked the baby in her arms.

She laid her hand on his forehead, and almost sobbed in relief when it didn't feel nearly as hot as it did before.

The woman smiled largely at her, and nodded.

Julie took that as a sign that Xavier was going to live and couldn't help her bottom lip from trembling as the hollowness in her chest broke.

Xavier stirred, and raised his hand to grasp hers.

"Is Devon safe?" he murmured, not opening his eyes.

Julie, so pleased at the sound of his voice that tears started to fill her eyes, lifted his hand to her cheek so that he could feel her nod. Her eyes were so trained on Xavier's tired-looking unshaven face that she did not even notice when the woman quietly rose and left the house, drawing the curtain across the door behind her.

"You must be happy then."

She nodded again, and smiled, a tear spilling out of her eye and running down her cheek.

"Good," he whispered, before seemingly falling back asleep.

Julie pressed her lips against his knuckles, before snuggling up into his side.

"M-hy Eck-zayv-her," she whispered to his heartbeat. And for the first time in weeks, she felt happy.

…

"Zander!"

Zander's butler barely had time to open the door before Lauren burst in – a flurry of cloth and sunshine.

"You are the greatest," she said, throwing herself into a hug with him, and burrowing her face into his neck.

"That we both agree on," he teased, setting aside his papers, and pushing his chair back to take her into his lap, "but on which account this time, my darling?"

"My mother has agreed to let me see you!" she exclaimed, looping her arms around his neck. "She's not happy about it, but she's letting me. 'I wash my hands of you, girl,' she said to me not ten minutes ago. 'Believe me when I say he's going to break your heart, but I guess there's no stopping you once you get your mind onto something.' I would have hoped for more encouragement, but perhaps this is a step in the right direction."

"Your mother and I may not agree on things, but I think we understand each other now," Zander said carefully.

"Perhaps in time, she'll come to appreciate you," Lauren said optimistically.

"Well, she'll have her whole life to do so."

Lauren's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, it's hard to ignore one's son-in-law for any extent of time. Eventually, they will run into each other."

"Son-in-law?" Lauren's big blue eyes were blinking curiously into Zander's cocky grin. Suddenly, they widened as what he was implying hit home.

"You mean… you want to marry me?"

"Why Lauren, I thought you'd never ask."

Lauren stared at his smile, speechless.

"Oh, come now, darling," Zander said emphatically. "You had to know that this was coming."

"Bluh-buh-buh…"

"I think I rather like you speechless," he said cheekily. "Allows room for others to get a word in edgewise."

"Did you just propose?" Lauren asked finally.

Zander pursed his lips. "Actually I believe you did. To which I said, 'Yes! Wholeheartedly, my dearest blossoming flower,' or at least, that's what I'll have the historians say I said."

"I don't specifically remember myself proposing," Lauren replied, a hint of a smile creeping across her face.

"It was not moments ago," Zander said reproachfully. "I imagine, my darling, that we are going to have a very difficult time if you can't remember words you said not three sentences ago."

"What were my exact words, dear-heart?" Lauren asked, the smile having turned into a reproachful sort of glance.

"I believe they were something like 'You want to marry me?'"

Lauren made a thoughtful face. "Put like that, I do believe I did propose. And you said yes, correct?"

"Correct."

"Then we are to be married?"

"As soon as possible."

"You remember me saying that I wasn't interested in marriage, right?" Lauren asked. "I distinctly remember _you _saying that you weren't interested in marriage."

Zander's began to laugh. "Oh, but Lauren, just think of the scandal!"

Lauren gave up. "Oh, Zander!" she laughed, and kissed him soundly again.

"I just have one question," she said, pulling back and giving him a serious glance.

"Ask away."

"Did you really try to kiss your friend?"

The glittery gold spots in Zander's eyes brightened considerably. "What do you think?"

Lauren frowned. "I think you were just trying to throw me off balance."

"A brilliant deduction, my darling," he said. "One of the unfortunate side effects of my profession is the habit of lying to get my way."

Lauren's frown lessened. "I guess I'll have to break you of that. No more lying to me, Zander."

"You have my word, my lady," he swore, a hand over his heart. She made a happy sound and hugged him again.

"If only Jules was here!" Lauren exclaimed, her deep blue eyes saddening a little. "I worry about her so much, you know. We can't get married until she returns."

Zander's eyes grew worried for a flash of a second before returning to normal. Lauren's heart began to beat quicker in concern.

"What is it?" she asked softly, her glee fading slightly. When Zander didn't reply, she took a hold of his chin and turned his face to hers. "Please. If it's about my cousin, you _must_ tell me."

He sighed. "Devon is safely back in Delainë. However, my brother and your cousin did not arrive with him."

Lauren gasped. "Where are they?"

Zander looked to his desk. "I do not know. Devon said that my brother had fallen ill again, and Julie is looking after him. I have every contact I have in Equilian sending me reports of captured people, but so far, I haven't come across anyone who fits either of their description."

"That gives us cause to hope, doesn't it?" Lauren asked, biting her lip.

"It does indeed, my darling," he said, but his eyes weren't convinced.

…

It took nearly three days for the Xavier to recover his strength. Julie was rather glad for the reprieve, as it allowed her poor beleaguered foot to attempt to heal as well.

During those three days, Xavier managed to convince the younger man to take them in his boat up the river to the main town. He also managed to whittle himself a walking stick.

"The fever's weakened my leg again," he said with a wry look in his face when Julie motioned to the stick curiously.

It seemed to be true, too. Although he had seemed almost healed before, his limp was more pronounced than ever.

But soon they were on their way.

They said their farewells at the river docks.

"_Prova don, _Guaro," Xavier said, shaking the man's hand.

"_Prova don,_ _Emmiso_ Xavier," Guaro said, returning the handshake from his place in his little wooden boat. He turned to Julie next, and bowed rather gracefully for a large man.

"_Prova don, Ammisa_," he said quietly.

Julie's face belied her shock, but she nodded her thanks at him anyway.

Julie and Xavier made their way back to the sea port, where he haggled with several people until he motioned for Julie to follow him. They walked onto a smaller boat that the one that originally brought them to Equilian, but it was a nice ship anyway.

Xavier and Julie stowed their things in their small cabin below deck.

"My grandmother will be waiting in Barrish," he said to her quietly as she happily inspected the bunk she would be occupying. She pushed down on the cotton batting, elated when it didn't swing too and fro. She wasn't going to sleep in another hammock unless her life depended on it.

At Xavier's words, Julie nodded, and looked at him.

"I imagine you had this talk with her before," Xavier said dryly, "but just to remind you, you spent these last few days with my grandmother, exploring the city. She's an elderly lady, and needed a nice young girl to help squire her around."

Julie snorted at that. As if Lady Fiona needed _anyone_'_s_ help. She had only spent a short time with the woman, and she seemed completely self-sufficient, and quite a bit younger than her years.

"I know," Xavier said, the corners of his mouth twitching, "it's a hard idea for anyone to swallow who knows my grandmother, but she'll blithely repeat it to anyone who needs to hear."

Julie nodded again. It made sense.

It really was quite the anticlimactic conclusion to the little adventure she had. But, she missed her home, she missed her cousin, and she _really_ missed her own clothes.

…

"Julie!" Lauren came crashing into her cousin's arms, weeping tears of joy and hugging her cousin close. "I was so _worried_ about you!"

_Why,_ Julie signed wryly. _The worst I could have done was probably twist an ankle whilst shopping in Barrish._

"Of course," Lauren said, holding Julie out in front of her and brushing out the wrinkles she made in her cousin's peach frock. "We will talk about your… trip later."

"I'm glad to see you made it alright," Zander said, clapping his brother on the back after giving his grandmother a hug.

"It was close for a while," Xavier admitted, trading his rough walking stick for his familiar cane, handed to him by one of his butlers. "But I pulled through."

"Xavier's back!" Xavier's two sisters came flying down the stairs, their mother following a little bit more decorously behind them.

"Ugh, Wynne, my leg's still sore," he grunted as she latched herself around his abdomen.

"I _told_ you," she said sternly. "I told you that it would be taxing, but nooo, you had to be the big hero and save the day again."

"I came back didn't I?" he asked with a hint of a grin.

She sniffed. "Yes, and that's the only reason I've forgiven you."

Vicky rolled her eyes. "I, for one, am glad you're back. That gives her an excuse to mother someone besides _me_ for a while."

Wynne stuck her tongue out at her younger sister, who crossed her eyes in return.

"Girls," their mother admonished, although she too was smiling.

_Can we go home_? Julie signed to her cousin, completely exhausted.

_Of course. We'll go to the hotel straight away,_ Lauren signed back.

Julie forced a smile onto her face. She was ready to go _home_ home, back to Delainë. She had done what she had set out to do; she had returned Xavier home safely, where his family can look after him. No matter how much her heart hurt to admit it, she had no more reason to stay in Drewery.

They bowed to the family, and Xavier immediately turned to them.

"Thank you for keeping my grandmother company," he said to Julie, his dark eyes holding her blue ones for a second before Julie's gaze slipped to the floor.

"She says thank you for escorting her," Lauren interpreted the blonde's fingers. She gave a smile at Zander, who lifted his eyebrows at his brother and her cousin expressively. Lauren gave an almost imperceptible nod. She noticed it as well.

Julie and Lauren slipped quietly from the castle.

"Guess what?" Lauren whispered excitedly to her.

_What_? Julie asked.

"I'm getting married!"

Julie's face snapped to her, shocked. _What? To who?_

"Prince Zander."

_Zander?!_ Julie couldn't believe it. _I didn't think you liked him._

"Oh, I found him a little high-handed, but after getting to know him, he's really not that bad. Actually, he's not very bad at all." Lauren's face was stretched in a blissful smile. "He's actually pretty great."

Julie smiled, her emotions mixed. She was happy for her cousin, but she knew then that she was returning home alone.

Once they were back into her room, Julie took off her sunhat and shook out her short blonde hair.

What could only be described as in unintelligible shriek came from the doorway.

Julie turned, expecting to see some sort of fiend brandishing a sword.

Instead Lauren was standing there, holding a plate of cookies.

"My God, Jules, what have you done to your hair?" she asked, setting the cookies down on the bureau.

Julie didn't reply, as it was rather obvious what had happened.

Lauren ran her fingers through it, and fingered a roughly shorn lock, a thoughtful, almost knowing look on her face. "Your brother's going to kill me."

Julie's temper flared a little. _My brother won't kill _anybody! her fingers snapped. _I can do what I want with my hair, regardless of my brother's opinion._

Lauren laughed. "Oh, Jules, I was just joking. It's a little ragged, but I might actually be able to fix it."

_I'm going home, back to Delainë, right after your wedding,_ Julie announced suddenly.

Lauren's eyes flittered back and forth between worry and sadness. "You sure?"

_Positive,_ Julie said. _There's nothing left for me here._

…

_Three months later_

"I have a message for you, my lord," the young man said, standing in Xavier's office respectfully.

"Oh, from whom?" he asked. He was sorting several papers into piles from districts, but he could take a brief respite.

"From Devon of Delainë," the messenger continued. "He sends his regards, and invites you to his wedding, taking place later this week."

Xavier's heart completely sank, and he had to force himself to stay perfectly expressionless.

"Wedding?" he inquired innocently.

The messenger nodded. "He said it was to someone you know."

Xavier knew perfectly well who it was.

"Yes, thank you," he said, turning back to his papers. "You may go."

The messenger bowed, and was in the process of leaving, when he stopped and bowed.

"Your highness," he said, before finally disappearing out of Xavier's doorway.

The newly crowned princess Lauren poked her head around into the study where Xavier was pouring over financial records. Ever since his brother had married, Xavier had taken over much of the paperwork involved in running the kingdom so his brother could enjoy the pleasantness of his new marriage. And, although he kept the fact to himself, burying himself in work was the only way he could keep his thoughts from a courageous young woman who had left with barely so much as a 'good bye' after her cousin's wedding. It took all Xavier's self-control not to go after her. She wasn't his.

"Aren't you coming?" Lauren asked curiously, breaking his concentration.

"Where?" he asked, looking up.

"To the wedding," she said.

He shrugged. "I wasn't planning on it. I will send a card, or something, though."

"Oh, you simply must come," Lauren said brightly. "I'm sure Jules would be delighted to see you. And Devon would want you there, you having saved his life and all."

A fierce shot of jealousy tore through Xavier so hard, he felt his gut clench in protest. He steeled himself against it. It wasn't _him_ Juliette wanted. It wasn't _him_ who she had risked life and reputation to save.

"I need to finish these financial statements," he said, slightly shortly, and went back to his work.

Lauren's face settled into a frown, and she entered fully into the study and shut the door.

"What you need, my dear brother-in-law, is a swift kick in the pants," she declared, putting her hands on her hips.

The bluntness made Xavier look up in surprise.

"I beg your pardon?"

Lauren shook her finger at him. "Zander said that you're so noble, you'd bite your own nose off before doing something for yourself, but really, this is too much."

"I'm sorry, Lauren, I still have no idea what you're talking about."

"Julie, of course!" she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "You love her, and yet you're still sitting here, wallowing in self-pity and pining for her."

"What?" he spluttered, taken aback by Lauren's vehemence.

She rolled her eyes grandly. "I can see it, and I'm not even related to you by blood. It's driving Zander crazy, to tell you the truth. Why didn't you tell her?"

"I can't," he replied, shaking his head, a little angrily. "She doesn't want me. She risked her _life_ for Devon. I can't just go and tell her I love her."

"And why not?" Lauren asked. "For that matter, how do you know who she risked her life for?"

"She told me," he said.

Lauren gave him a disbelieving glance, but didn't say anything more about it.

"So you're not going to come?" she asked.

He shook his head sadly. "I'm busy."

Lauren nodded, and turned.

Before she left, though, she paused. "I know my cousin, Xavier," she said, and turned back to face him. "Devon won't make her happy. But _you_ will."

Her words rang in his head as the door shut quietly.

…

"God damn it," Xavier said, pausing in his back and forth pacing to slam his fist into his desk.

Juliette and Devon. He could see it in his mind. Devon marrying Juliette, Devon kissing Juliette, Devon…

"God _damn_ it," he swore again. Lauren was wrong. Juliette wanted to marry Devon. His being there wouldn't do anything but aggravate the issue.

But…

After they, no, after _she_ had rescued Devon… she didn't go with him.

A glimmer of faint, faint hope started to glimmer in the back of his mind. Perhaps, just perhaps…

No, it was no good sitting around here and arguing with himself.

He had to go see her.


	16. Revelations

Chapter Sixteen: Revelations

Julie looked around at the people assembled in the small church. She was pretty sure the entire town was sitting in the pews for the wedding. Even Lauren and Zander had ridden down for the event.

Julie fought down the regret that Xavier didn't come with them. She was over him. She had spent the last three months crying and sitting around in her house, moping. Well, no more. She was turning over a new leaf today.

She adjusted the bouquet in her hands, hoping that the flowers weren't too pollen-y. She didn't want to be sneezing during the wedding. Another flower had been tucked behind her ear.

Luckily, her hair seemed to grow rather fast, and in the past three months, it had reached her ears, although it had a tendency to wing in every direction, no matter how many pins she put into it. Julie frowned. She wasn't sure whether it was nicer to have the short easily managed hair, or the long, stylish hair.

She noticed Lauren looked at her, and she gave her cousin a small smile in reply. Lauren grinned broadly at her, before they both turned their attention to the priest. The wedding was about to start. Julie shifted her flowers to her other hand.

"Dearly beloved," he began as Devon took his bride-to-be's fingers.

"I object!"

The entire group gasped as a collective, and turned to where the doors had been thrown open.

Julie's hand went to her mouth. It was Xavier. And he looked _awful_, as if he had ridden here straight from Drewery without stopping.

"I don't think this is the part where you _can_ object, Xavier," Zander remarked with a smile.

"What's the meaning of this, my lord?" Devon asked from up on the dias.

"I'm sorry, Devon, but I cannot let you marry…" The woman with whom Devon was holding hands with turned. "Miranda?" he finished, surprised.

"And why not?" Devon asked, giving him a bit of a glare.

Xavier just then noticed Juliette standing beside Miranda, holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand, the other hand thrown up in front of her mouth, but whether to hold back shock or laughter, he wasn't quite certain.

Xavier's glare turned to Lauren, who wasn't being nearly as discreet in her laughter. "You told me that Devon was marrying Juliette," he accused.

"I never said any such thing," she protested, still laughing. "You came up with that on your own, and I merely let you continue to think they were in order to appeal to your jealousy." She looked at her husband. "I would say that it worked."

Zander was openly grinning at his wife. "You would make a great addition to my staff, my darling."

"While I appreciate your saving my life," Devon said, a bit peevishly, "I am allowed to marry whomever I please."

"Yes," Xavier agreed, stepping into a pew. "I'm sorry. Please continue."

"Thank you," Devon replied, slightly sardonically, and turned back to his bride-to-be with a large smile.

The wedding seemed to take forever in Julie's opinion. She couldn't help glancing over at Xavier at every possible moment. Why was he here? Why did he object when he thought she was marrying Devon?

Then it was over, and Miranda and Devon were walking back down the aisle, holding each other's hands.

Xavier slowly approached Julie, and she began to nibble out the tip of her glove nervously.

"We need to talk," he said seriously.

Julie's mouth went dry, but she swallowed and nodded. This was so confusing. And painful. She had just finished giving up on Xavier, and then he had to return and make all those emotions bubble back to the surface.

She handed her bouquet to a maid, and signed something.

"This way, your highness," the maid said, and lead them to a parlor that contained an easel with a half-painted landscape on it, and a piano littered with papers.

_Thank you, Petunia,_ Julie signed. _If you would be so kind as to get us some tea._

"You need to sit, my lady," Petunia said, ignoring her. "I'm not sure what the sun has been doing to you, but your hands are trembling."

It wasn't the sun that was causing her hands to shake. _Tea, Petunia_? Julie was growing frustrated. As kind as Petunia was, she was one of them who mostly ignored her wishes and did what they saw fit.

"Oh, and look, you've nibbled through your gloves again. I swear, you have a new pair every two days."

"Petunia," Xavier interjected smoothly. "I would adore a cup of tea, please. Would you, Juliette?" Julie nodded emphatically.

"Of course, your highness," Petunia said with a bow. She set the bouquet down on the table, but then paused. "Should I really be leaving you two alone, though? It would be most improper."

Julie sighed. _No one will ever even hear of it. You can leave the door open if it makes you more comfortable._

"I mean, you _are_ a beautiful young lady, Lady Juliette, even with your hair cut short as it is. Why on earth did you cut it?"

Julie's eyes hardened. _I told you, I was tired of fussing with it._

"I would understand if it was the fashion – if it's one thing Lady Juliette can follow, your highness, it's fashion – but it's not."

"The tea, Petunia?" Xavier asked, a little resignedly. "You may leave the door open. I promise not to do anything that might compromise her."

"Of course. I'll be back soon."

Julie did sit down on the sofa as soon as her maid was gone, touching her fingers to her chin and lowering them palm up.

"I need to talk to you alone," Xavier said by way of explanation.

Julie nodded, her heart hammering. Her glove tips made their way into her teeth.

"Is this yours?" he asked, surprising her into looking at him. He was standing in front of her half-finished painting.

"Ess," she replied suspiciously. Surely, he didn't come to talk about her artwork.

"Why did you come with me to Equilian?" he asked, switching topics abruptly again. It was a bad omen. It either meant that he was distracted, or that he was forcing himself to be distracted because he was nervous.

"Ah told yhou, Ah want-hed to hhhhelp," she said, trying to make her voice sound as normal as possible. She had been practicing for three months, and she could almost stop making all the strange 'h' sounds in the middle of her words.

"Juliette, what's wrong with your voice?" Xavier turned to her, a frown formed on his face. "It sounds positively hoarse."

She shrugged. It was already awful sounding. What difference did it make?

"Ah b-heen pher-actissssing," she said proudly.

Xavier looked away. "You sounded better before."

Julie's eyes widened in surprise. He thought she sounded _better_?

"You wanted to help. Whom?"

Julie stared at him, but he wasn't looking at her. He was jumping from topics so fast, she was barely able to catch up.

"Whom did you wish to help, Julie, him or me?"

"Yhou," she replied finally, not knowing what it meant, but having to say it. "Ah w-hent to hhhhelp yhou."

"Why?"

"Ah c-houldn't l-het yhou g-het s-hick ahgain." If her voice sounded bad before, it was positively atrocious now. But she continued. "Ah kn-how ahbout mah br-hoth-her, he ber-hibe yhou. B-hut…" she trailed off, her gaze swimming.

"But what?

Julie shook her head. How could she just blurt out her feelings? It wouldn't change his, and it would just cause her unneeded pain. Her voice was a black mark against her. There was no way that she could even attempt for him.

"What's this?" Xavier asked, picking up a large tied notebook.

Julie gasped. "N-ho!"

It was too late; Xavier flipped it open.

His face was completely shocked as he perused her private sketchbook and found picture after picture of him. She captured his expressions perfectly, as if she had stopped the moment in time merely to draw him. There was a picture of him on top of the battlements, his hair shining, another of him sleeping on a cot, looking remarkably, yet somehow disgustingly cute, and even him standing on the prow of a ship, his head slightly turned as if listening intently to something.

"What are these?" he whispered, not even realising that he had spoken out loud.

"Ah n-heed yhou out of mah hhhead," Julie replied, her voice even thicker with tears. "Ah tr-hy to dr-haw yhou."

Xavier was still looking at the book. "But why?"

"B-he-cause Ah l-hove yhou," she whispered, not even caring anymore. What was the use? He'd be out of her life again in no time anyway, and she'd spend three more months crying, and then go on, always, probably, loving him.

"What?" Xavier finally looked at her, his face completely open with surprise, and looking more boyish and innocent and lovable then ever.

Tears were already running down Julie's face, despite her best efforts to mop them up with her gloves.

"Pah-lease," she cried. "N-how yhou kn-how. Pah-lease leave m-he to m-hy m-hisor-hy."

"How can I leave the woman I love in tears?" he asked tenderly, setting the sketchbook back on the piano.

Julie looked up surprised. Xavier threw aside his cane, and with only the briefest grimace, got down on one knee in front of her and used his handkerchief to wipe up her tears.

"Yhou l-hove?" she croaked.

"You've tired out your voice, Julie," Xavier scolded softly. "We can't have that." He took her hands in his and pulled off her fingerless gloves.

"B-hut, yhou c-han't l-hove m-he," Julie protested, noting that Xavier had dropped the formal use of her full name to the intimate of her shortened. Her heart skipped three beats before coming back to pound strongly in her ears.

Xavier chuckled dryly. "Julie, I tried to cancel what I thought was your wedding, just to tell you."

"B-hut m-ah v-hoice?"

_Is as beautiful to me as the morning sun,_ Xavier signed, his fingers rather slow and clumsy.

Her mouth fell open. _You can read my hands?_

"I had Lauren show me for three months. Hell, I even had your brother teach it to me," Xavier said with a wry grin. _I'm slow and still learning, but I have a knack for…_ "Damn it, I don't remember the sign for language."

Julie showed him with a shaky smile.

"I figured, you already came into my world, it was about time I ventured into yours a little." He shrugged, and his hand came up into Julie's short hair.

_You knew what I was saying to Petunia all along, didn't you?_ her fingers accused.

"Most of it, and I guessed the rest," Xavier admitted, still toying with her hair. "I think I like it this length, what do you think?"

Julie stared at him, a confused look in her eye.

"It'll be quite the rage, I'm sure, when my wife sports a new shorter style," he remarked casually.

Julie's jaw dropped. _You mean_?

"Marry me, Julie?" Xavier asked, looking into her eyes.

She bit her lip for a second, then threw herself into Xavier's arms, and laughing, they both fell backwards.

Grinning charmingly, Xavier touched his hand to his lips, and then his cheek, raising his eyes in question.

Julie complied happily.

…

Lauren softly closed the door on the new couple.

"And I thought you were against lying," Zander said from behind her.

"I'm against you lying to me," she replied, turning to him. "But a little manipulation towards the betterment of both parties – I think I can live with that."

"They'll be happy together," Zander remarked, offering his wife his arm.

"I'm sure they will," Lauren said, taking it. "Xavier is the best man I know to look after my Jules. I do notice, however, the tendency of the Drewery men to give out their proposals as orders. That we might have to work on."

Zander grinned, unrepentant. "It comes from being royalty. I'm sure you'll be able to cure me of it… in fifty, sixty years." A half-frown formed on his face.

"What is it?" Lauren asked.

"Oh nothing," Zander sighed. "I'm just thinking that Eric will be absolutely _impossible_ to deal with after this."

"He'll have his new child to keep busy," Lauren said firmly.

"Speaking of children," her husband said, with a devilish twinkle in his eyes, causing Lauren's knees to turn to butter, "I'm awfully fond of them."

"Oh?" Lauren replied demurely.

"I'm even fonder of making, them, however."

"I see."

"It does take practise to get the technique just right, though." Zander gave her a mock serious look, but it was ruined by the golden sparkles in his eyes.

"To make or rear?"

"Make, of course." A hint of a smile was playing about his lips, and Lauren wanted to catch it with hers. "Very difficult. Sometimes, it takes many tries to get it exactly right."

"Perhaps we should go practise?" Lauren asked sweetly.

"I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
